


Shelter

by CarlyCo



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Car Accidents, Deception, F/M, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, Roommates, sprained ankle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-02-16 17:57:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 54,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2279292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlyCo/pseuds/CarlyCo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After years of not knowing, anything about her early childhood Elizabeth Keen grows tired of riddles and half-truths. She decides to take a more hands on approach to getting the truth out of Red. In her quest to get the answers she deserves Elizabeth receives help from an unlikely source -- or maybe it isn’t so unlikely after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hope Springs Eternal

**Author's Note:**

> This story picks up eight weeks after the Anslo Garrick episodes. It is canon up to that point. However, it diverges starkly from there on...be warned. I will add tags as they become appropriate.

Special Agent Elizabeth Keen tossed and turned in her sleep. Her nights were always restless now. She blamed the exhaustion on unfamiliar surroundings but after nearly two months in Donald's guest bedroom, he wasn't buying that tired excuse.

The pair often sat up in the middle of the night talking when they were unable to remain asleep. Elizabeth couldn't sleep because of the issues weighing on her mind. Donald couldn't sleep because of random phantom pains in his leg. However, those restless nights allowed them to learn more about one another than what was contained in their personnel files. It was surprising how much could change in eight weeks.

She had not talked to Tom since she packed her bags and moved out of their house. He was so insistent that she quit her job with the FBI and move away with him. He believed it was the only way for their struggling marriage to survive. However, Red's words lingered in her mind. She didn't trust her husband. She couldn't trust him. Too many questions about him couldn't be explained away. There were too many nights where she lied in bed next to Tom and wondered if he was a stranger.

She was on the fence about him but his ultimatum forced her hand. He demanded that she leave the FBI and something in his tone and body language warned her away. However, it was his actions as she packed to leave their home that cemented the end of their marriage. When he realized she was really going to walk out on him Tom attacked Lizzy to prevent her from leaving. She got a black eye, ruptured eardrum, and broken heart for her trouble. If their marriage wasn't over before that moment it certainly was after. Any doubts she had about Red's assertions disappeared. Now she spent her spare time investigating the man she used to love.

The first few weeks of their separation, she lived in a hotel room. She filled her days with work and visiting Ressler. Their relationship had steadily improved since her run-in with the 'Stewmaker'. Her torture and near death softened Donald and somehow they formed a friendship. However, his questions about her relationship to Red lingered under the surface.

When Ressler was released from the hospital, she dropped by to help him while he recovered. A few weeks of that led him to offer the use of his guest bedroom. Lizzy had been there ever since. She knew that eventually she would have to move but neither of them seemed in a rush for that to happen. However, receiving word that Tom finally signed the divorce papers was like a sign that it was time for Lizzy to move on with her life.

Elizabeth sat up in bed and groaned in frustration. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 2 AM. She slipped out of the bed and quietly exited the bedroom. Normally, was awake but she never wanted to risk interrupting his sleep. He struggled as much as she did.

She chuckled as she walked down the stairs.

Don was already in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to whistle while he munched on cookies. He looked up hearing her chuckle and tilted the cookie jar in her direction.

"Cookie? I refilled it last night."

"I am going to have to work out more to burn off all these late night cookies. I think I will hit the gym on my day off."

He said, "I'll come with you. I am still working on strengthening the muscles in my leg."

Lizzy walked around the island and grabbed a few cookies from the jar. She smiled seeing his Spiderman pajama pants. No one would believe this in a million years but then again no one else in the agency knew this side of Donald Ressler.

Donald turned around and opened a cabinet removing another coffee cup. He asked, "What woke you up tonight?"

Lizzy had a seat and sighed, "I had a dream about Red."

He nodded. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Lizzy often dreamed about the man that filled their days. He asked, "Want to talk about it?"

She shrugged, "I keep going back to that day at the 'Post Office'. He was resigned to let Garrick kill Dembe but when I was threatened, he was willing to come out of the box. Everything changed on the dime. He was going to kill you…"

"After saving my life," Don huffed. He had to admit that Reddington was a man of his word. The look in the man's eyes had been that of a killer. Donald had no doubt that Reddington would have killed him if he wouldn't or couldn't give him the code to open the box.

She nodded, "After going to great lengths to save your life in the first place. You know I asked him about it."

Don turned off the stove as the kettle began to whistle. He poured to cups of tea and asked, "Asked him why he decided to kill me?"

Lizzy shook her head as she spooned sugar into her cup of tea. She said, "No. I asked him the big question. I asked him if he was my father."

He paused mid sip and stared at her expectantly.

She laughed, "The answer was no, Don. I would have informed the bureau if there was another answer."

Don sat next to her at the island and asked, "Do you believe him?"

"I don't know. If he is my father it makes everything he has been doing for me make sense. He knows so many things about me that no one else knows. He knows things about me that even the bureau didn't know. If he isn't my father then I'm confused about his motives."

He joked, "Maybe he's in love with you. He could have learned all about you to get you into bed."

She glared at him and said, "I've been asked that question twice while being polygraphed. I don't think it is a romantic thing with us. He's never made a move or said anything inappropriate or sexual. I've never even caught him giving me a once over. I have even caught you doing that from time to time. The affection he shows me feels paternal."

Don felt a wave of relief after hearing that Red hadn't made any moves on Lizzy. He didn't understand where that impulse came from. He said, "Okay, let's say that Reddington is your father. Why would he lie to you?"

"I don't know. That's the part that doesn't make sense to me. He called me before he took off for parts unknown. The way he was talking, I didn't know if I'd ever see him again and I just wanted to know the truth. Maybe I'm making it out to be something it isn't," Elizabeth said. She munched on a cookie to keep herself from saying anything else.

Donald sat back in his chair and thought about the situation at length. "You have good instincts. If you think there is something then it is worth investigating. Maybe he lied to protect you. I mean there were cameras in your house at one point and he probably thought the bureau had your phone tapped. Maybe the people who had him kidnapped had your phone tapped too. Saying yes to that question puts you in danger. Garrick took you hostage the moment he realized you were important to Reddington. Who knows what he would have done to you if you hadn't escaped out the back of the ambulance."

Lizzy looked at him and asked, "You think?"

"It is possible. I mean the people that kidnapped him located and breached a black site. They have to be pretty powerful to have the reach and financing to pull something like that off. Being Reddington's daughter would make you the best leverage they have. He was willing to risk his own life to save yours."

She tapped her nails against the granite counter top but stopped suddenly as a thought struck her.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

Two months of being around her after work hours meant that Donald knew her facial expressions well. He laughed, "Liar."

"I can't tell you but I think I have a way to find out if I am Red's daughter. I don't know why I didn't think about it sooner. Well, I guess because I was thinking linear and this is definitely out of bounds, but you can’t have boundaries when you are dealing with Red. He’s too slippery for things like rules or decorum."

"In this house we both leave our badges at the door, Liz. You didn't tell Assistant Director Cooper when I felt shaky about returning to work. That would have been an automatic trip to the shrink."

Her eyes softened and she covered his hand her own. "I trusted that you would be able to shake it off. Besides, we ride together now and I'll always have your back, Ressler. Always."

He smiled. "Then tell me what you're thinking."

"When we found the blood in the decommissioned black site we determined it belonged to Reddington by running a DNA test. His DNA is in CODIS."

"I see where you are going but Reddington's DNA is under lock and key because his file is classified. There is no way to get at it and if you request a DNA test, the bureau will be alerted immediately. You want to do something like this under the radar so you will have to go to the source."

Elizabeth said, "Red isn't going to just offer up a DNA sample. I'll have to get creative."

He chuckled, "I have an idea."

She looked at the smirk on his face and asked, "Should I be scared?"

He laughed harder, "Of course not. Just give me some time to put the pieces in motion."


	2. Slippery Slope

Two weeks later Lizzy drove up to the townhouse she called home and pushed the button for the garage opener. She was giddy seeing that Ressler's car wasn't inside. They had a rule that the person that made it home first got to park in the garage. For the last week, he had been beating her home and taking the garage space. She hated parking on the street because neither of them had time to shovel the snow on the walkway.

Elizabeth stopped short of pulling into the garage. Instead, she turned off the engine and climbed out of the car to collect the grocery bags from her trunk. She laughed out loud thinking about how she chose to spend her day off.

Elizabeth used the downtime to run errands and planned to cook dinner tonight. Neither Don nor Lizzy were big fans of dining out or the club scene. After a long week at work, they both preferred a quiet night at home with good food, better beer, interesting conversation, and maybe a movie. Well, tonight they would be watching a hockey game. Donald was a diehard Bruins' fan whereas she was a Red Wings' fan.

Her thoughts of Don were disturbed when she heard the soft crunch of snow as boots packed it down. She dropped the bags into the trunk and her hand automatically went to her sidearm. She spun around with her gun drawn.

Donald laughed and asked, "Are you going to shoot me? What if I was just a friendly neighbor?"

She rolled her eyes and put the safety back on her weapon. "A friendly neighbor wouldn't have snuck up on me. They would have announced their approach instead of trying to dampen the sound of their footsteps. You did that on purpose."

She her gun into the holster and looked around for his car. She didn't understand how she could have not heard him pulling up.

Ressler saw her looking around and said, "I've been home for a couple of hours. I just ran down the street to pick up that package Mrs. Ellis has been holding for me for a week."

"Where is your car?"

"I had to catch a cab home. I need to have a cylinder head replaced because it is cracked. I'll be without a car for a couple of days. You get the garage all to yourself until I get my car back from the mechanic."

She laughed and said, "You still beat me home even with dropping your car off at a garage? Well, you can help me carry in the groceries. By the way, you could have called me for a ride. You didn't have to pay cab fare."

"I'll remember that for the future."

He grabbed several grocery bags and followed Lizzy into the house.

On his second trip out to the trunk he asked, "How much did you buy?"

She laughed, "We were out of like essential stuff, Don. We're on the last roll of tissue and I ran out of shampoo this morning. Quit your complaining. There are only a few bags left."

He smiled at her. He did like having Lizzy living with him. She paid attention to stuff like that. He was used to picking up things as he ran out. Lizzy on the other hand took the warehouse approach. He grabbed the last of the bags and closed the trunk just in time to see Lizzy slip on a patch of ice hidden beneath the snow covering his driveway.

Lizzy felt her foot begin to slip as soon as it made contact with the patch of ice. She let the bags go as she tumbled to the ground and whacked her head on the concrete. The snow didn't cushion the blow as much as you might think and for a moment she was dizzy from the impact.

Donald dropped his hand full of bags and jogged over to Lizzy. He kneeled on the ground beside her and asked, "Are you okay? That was a nasty spill."

She nodded and then groaned. "I'm fine. I just hit my head. I'm sure I'll have a headache later. Other than that I am okay."

He stood up and offered Lizzy a hand to get up.

Lizzy went to stand up and howled in pain.

Donald caught her so that she wouldn't fall again. "What is it?"

"My ankle. I think I might have twisted my ankle when I fell."

He said, "Well, you did fall pretty funny. It was uncoordinated."

She whacked his arm and laughed, "I'd like to see you slip on ice gracefully."

He chuckled. "Do you think you can put any weight on it?"

Elizabeth stepped onto the ground tentatively and winced instantly.

"I'll take that as a no." Donald lifted Lizzy into his arms and carried her into the house despite her protests. He placed her on the couch and chuckled at the petulant look on her face.

"You could have just supported my weight and helped me into the house."

Donald said, "That would have taken too long, Hopalong Cassidy. You stay there. I am going to get the rest of the bags."

Lizzy said, "Fine. I'm going to take off my boots and get a look at the damage."

Donald returned to the driveway to collect the last of the bags and the items that scattered when Elizabeth fell. He closed the trunk and then carried everything inside.

He walked into the living room to check on Lizzy and frowned seeing her ankle. "You are going to need ice and an anti-inflammatory to bring down the swelling. You might need some type of brace too."

"I have a brace in my bedroom. I sprain my ankle at least once every winter. Snow and ice are not my friends."

"Well, I'll put up the groceries and then you can tell me where I can find this brace."

She said, "I can…"

He cut her off and asked, "Climb the stairs when you can't even put pressure on your foot? I'd love to see that if I didn't think you would crash to the bottom of the stairs."

Lizzy playfully tossed a crumpled piece of paper at him. "Oh! Have fun putting away everything I bought on your own."


	3. Your Best Shot

Later that night Lizzy sat on the couch with her foot propped up on the coffee table on a pillow. She was wearing a Red Wings' jersey and had a beer in her hand. "Hat trick! That is why Abdelkader is amazing!"

Donald's team was scoreless and he was irritated by that. He sipped more of his rum and coke and glared at her. He said, "Stop trash talking and eat your dinner."

"Dinner? You mean that lava you call chili. My lips are burning. How many of the habanera peppers did you put in there?"

He shrugged, "All of them."

Her eyes widened. "I'm tapping out. I need some sour cream if I am going to be able to eat this."

Don laughed and said, "Lightweight. I'll be right back. I'll get you another drink while I am in there."

"Thanks…" She picked up her phone hearing it buzz for the 8th time in the last hour. She checked her messages and saw that they were all from Reddington. After the first message, she had asked if this was about a case and he said no. Lizzy decided that he could wait. She wanted to enjoy her evening with Don.

Don returned with refreshed drinks and a container of sour cream.

She put a couple spoons into the spicy dish and hoped it would take away the sting.

"How is it?" he asked expectantly.

Lizzy tentatively tasted the chili and smiled. She sighed in relief, "Much better. I don't know how you can stand it."

He shrugged, "Some like it hot."

"Did you just reference a Marilyn Monroe movie?"

He laughed and settled back onto the couch with a smug grin on his face. He put his feet up on the table and said, "I'm a man of many interests."

"I guess you learn something new every day. I am going to have to start peeking at your Netflix account to see what you’re watching."

He glanced over at her swollen ankle. Lizzy was keeping it elevated on the table but it still looked bad. He was about to say something to her but his eyes fell onto her thighs and he felt his mouth go dry. She was wearing a pair of boyshorts underneath the oversized jersey, which wasn't unusual, but lately his thoughts about his partner had taken on a less than platonic shade.

Donald woke up more mornings than he cared to admit having had dreams about Lizzy. He was doing his best to resist temptation but it was hard when he was living with his temptation.

They ate dinner with a little trash talk interspersed as the Bruins finally scored a goal. However, it was too little too late. The Red Wings won 4-2 and Lizzy couldn't stop crowing.

"If my ankle wasn't hurting I'd hop up on that table and start singing _We Are the Champions_."

Don shook his head and he collected their dinner dishes. He asked, "Do you often climb up onto tables and dance?"

She teased, "I'm a woman of many interests. Who hasn't danced on a table or two?"

"I have not. Although, I'm not sure anyone would want me to dance on a table."

She shrugged and craned her neck around as if to look at his ass. She said, "I don't know. I'd throw a few dollar bills at you."

He laughed. "Wait. You didn't say that money is involved."

"Well, only if you dance well enough. I mean you have to break loose sometimes don't you? I mean if you can't dance on a bar in Cabo where can you dance on a bar? I think I'm buzzed. I might be talking too much."

"I think I'm going to get you another drink. I want to hear about this trip to Cabo where you were dancing on the bar."

She laughed, "In your dreams, Donnie. I'm turning to ESPN. I want to hear the analysts' breakdown of the game. We can watch awesome highlights of your team biting it." She laughed harder and her head flopped back against the couch. Lizzie closed her eyes listening to the commercials. The combination of a long day, beers, a few glasses of rum and coke, and pain relievers conspired to make her drowsy.

After putting away the leftovers and loading the dishwasher, Donald returned to find Lizzy asleep. He laughed and went to pick her up. There was no sense in disturbing her sleep. She couldn't make it up the stairs on her own anyway.

Elizabeth stirred when Don lifted her off the couch. She asked, "Where are we going?"

"To bed."

She opened her eyes and asked, "You're taking me to bed?"

He stammered, "I-I-I mean I am going to put you into your bed. You are going to your bed and I am going to my bed." He felt stupid immediately after saying all of that. It didn't need explanation unless he was thinking of something else.

She laughed and said, "I know what you meant. You are a good person. You wouldn't have sex with me while I am tipsy." Lizzy leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. It was feather light at first but then became more intense. The kiss ended as abruptly as it began. Afterward she rested her head on his shoulder and yawned tiredly.

He was barely over the shock when someone rang the doorbell. He frowned and laid Lizzy back on the couch. He went to the door. "Who is it?"

"Raymond Reddington…"

Ressler suddenly wished he had his gun on him. He opened the door and asked, "What do you want?"

The older man thrust a bag of rock salt at him and said, "Dembe is shoveling your driveway and walkway. He'll salt it afterward. I brought this bag for you so that you can practice better property maintenance. How is Lizzy?"

Ressler took the bag of salt and felt more than a little chastised. He asked, "Liz told you about her fall?"

"Not as such. The point is that I know. Just like I know that she's been living here. Just like I know where here is. How is she?"

"Her ankle is sprained. It should be okay in a couple of days once the swelling goes down."

Raymond walked by Ressler and further into the house. "Where is she? I've been sending her messages all evening and they have all gone unanswered. I was concerned."

"She's asleep on the couch."

Donald set the bag of salt on the floor and led the way into the living room seeing that Red wasn't going to leave. He sat on the edge of the couch and lightly shook Elizabeth. "Liz, wake up."

She groaned. "I thought you were taking me to bed, Don. This couch is not comfortable."

Ressler's eyes widened and he looked at Red for a moment and considered explaining what she meant. However, the disapproving look on the dapper man's face made him think better. He said, "Reddington is here."

She groaned, "Tell him I'm asleep."

"Hello, Lizzy."

Her eyes snapped open and she sighed. "How are you here? How do you even know where I live? The bureau doesn't even know. They think I still live at my house."

"I make it my business to know things, Lizzy. The best currency in the world is information. How are you feeling? I understand you took a nasty spill this afternoon."

She sat up on the couch more trying to clear the cobwebs. "I slipped on some ice. That has been known to happen in the winter. Why are you here? Is it about a case?"

"No, I was concerned about you. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I understand you hit your head when you fell. I brought you a basket of items to help your recover." Red placed the basket on the coffee table.

Her jaw dropped. "Do you have someone watching me?"

He looked unaffected by her shock and waved his hand dismissively. "Well, Dembe was watching you of course. We can never be too careful. I was happy when you left that dreadful hotel. It had too many access points and was very hard for Dembe to secure."

Lizzy wanted to be angry or indignant but in all honesty, she should have expected as much from him. Furthermore, she was too tired to muster more than apathy towards him.

Reddington looked around the room. "Cozy. It's like playing house. How many bedrooms are there? One?"

The accusation in Reddington's voice struck a nerve with Ressler. He reared back and punched him squarely in the face striking his nose with precision.

Lizzy tried to stand up forgetting that she couldn't bear weight on her ankle. She instantly crumpled back onto the couch. "Ah!"

Ressler forgot about Reddington and turned his attention to her. He kneeled beside the couch."Are you okay?"

Reddington ignored the blood coming from his nose and looked at the young woman with concern in his eyes. He asked, "Lizzy, are you alright?

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just forgot I can't stand up. Don, I need to talk to Red alone and I could really use some ice for my ankle."

“Coming right up.” He squeezed her hand gently and then walked out of the living room.

She looked at Red's face and sighed. "You're bleeding."

He chuckled, "It isn't the first time." Raymond removed a handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned his face.

"You had no right to ask a question like that."

"It wasn't a lewd question. If there was something going on here it wouldn't be inappropriate. You are well on your way to being divorced."

She said, "Don is a friend and a very generous one for letting me stay here. And my divorce from Tom won't be final for another couple months."

He said, "That is just red tape. When pressure is applied in the right places things can happen much faster."

Lizzy’s jaw tightened. She deadpanned, "What did you do?"

He shrugged, "Lizzy, you wanted out of the marriage and I made sure that happened. You should receive the final decree in a few days. Just like that…strings cut and ties severed."

"Where do you get off poking your nose in my business? I told you to stay out of my personal life! We have a work relationship and that is it! Unless there is something you'd like to tell me?"

Raymond walked around the room looking at Donald’s taste in décor. He couldn’t say he expected much more from a single FBI agent. However, he could see touches of Lizzy’s tastes starting to make appearances. The items were subtle like knick-knacks and a few decorative candles. He even recognized a few personal items that were from Lizzy’s abandoned home. It was an interesting arrangement indeed. "What do you mean?"

She seethed. "Don't play stupid with me! I asked if you were my father and you said no.”

He walked closer to the couch and came to a stop in front of her. He could see that Lizzy was working herself up into quite a lather. “I did say no.”

“Why do you have this obsessive need to know everything about me? Am I some sort of game? I am some puzzle you want to solve? Answer me! Maybe Don was right. Maybe you are attracted to me. Is that why you are so concerned about who I am seeing? Do you want to get me into your bed? Do you have some sort of fetish for vastly younger women? Perhaps you are just a voyeur by nature. Maybe those were your cameras in my bedroom. Or maybe you had cameras of your own in there. Did you like seeing Tom and I in bed together? Did you like watching the things he did to me? Is that why you're so interested in if I am sleeping with Ressler now? Do you think you are missing something? "

Reddington physically recoiled at her accusations but quickly recovered to save face. "I find you interesting."

"Bull."

Ressler walked back into the room no longer wearing his Bruins jersey. He was wearing a clean white t-shirt he must have pulled from the laundry room. He looked between the two of them and asked, “What happened?”

Lizzy said, “I was just asking Red if he wanted to have sex with me since he’s so concerned if you are having sex with me.” She pointed at Red. “It is none of your business what I do in my off time. My relationship with Don doesn’t concern you.”

He said, "It is time for you to go. This is my house and I don't want you here. Thanks for the salt. Goodnight. Oh, and tell Dembe if I catch him creeping around my house…I’ll shoot him."

Raymond thought about arguing but the venom in Lizzy's accusations had thrown him for a loop. He needed to regroup. Red put on his hat and said, "Goodnight."

Donald walked him to the door and locked it.

Elizabeth looked up when he walked back into the room. She sighed, "If he's my father then he is like the most overprotective father ever."

She didn’t like to think about the people he’d already killed in the name of keeping her ‘safe’. Lizzy was certain Tom was only still alive because Red didn’t know where to find him. He had been lived when Dembe reported the injuries Tom inflicted on her. 

He chuckled and sat next to her on the couch. "I thought he was going to ask me about my intentions."

She said, "I can't believe you punched him. Let me see your hand."

He let her inspect his hand and shrugged, "I've wanted to knock the smug look off of his face for awhile but I had an ulterior motive."

Elizabeth's eyes widened as he picked up a paper bag. Inside the bag was the sleeve of his Bruins' jersey. The material was stained with Red's blood.

"Now you have a DNA sample and you owe me a new Bruins' jersey."

She looked at the sleeve and said, "I'll get you an Abdelkader jersey. Join the dark side. There is only one Hockey Town and it is in Detroit, baby. Seriously, thank you, Don."

“You don’t have to thank me. What are friends for?”

Lizzy stared at him a moment before pulling him into a smoldering kiss. Her encounter with Red had sobered her up just a bit and she wanted to try that kiss again.

Afterward he laughed quietly but his hand was balled into a fist at his side. It was the only way he could will himself not to touch her. “Trying to spite your father by acting out?”

She said, “No…I just sort of liked kissing you earlier. I think you liked it too. You went all pink in the face.”

“I did not.”

She smiled. “Yes, you did and it was cute.”

Ressler shook his head. “I am going to put away the DNA sample and then I am going to put you to bed.”

Lizzy smirked. “Okay…”

He grumbled a bit because he could tell she knew full well the affect she was having on him.


	4. End Over End

A week later Elizabeth Keen was deep in thought as she sat in the passenger seat of Agent Ressler's car. They were chasing down a lead on the next name on the Blacklist. She hated to admit it but her job was the last thing on her mind.

She received a call that morning informing her that the DNA test results were back. She would have given anything to be able to blow off work and go get them. She wanted to know the truth about her relationship to Reddington. Lizzy struggled over what she wanted the results to say. Raymond Reddington being her father was a bad thing for her career but she didn't have to tell the bureau. The test was run under the radar and she didn't think Donald would report it.

Don was the other man occupying space in her brain. She realized that she had feelings for him. She cared about Donald and enjoyed being with him, but she was just out of a marriage and they worked together. She didn't think the bureau would approve of a romantic relationship.

Elizabeth was brought out of her thoughts when she caught a glimpse of something in the rearview mirror. She twisted around in her seat just in time to see a Hummer slam into the back of them.

Ressler reached out his arm to prevent Lizzy from slamming forward out of instinct. He yelled, "Hold on!"

Elizabeth took out her gun but it was all for naught as the Hummer sped up and rammed the side of the SUV at full-speed. The force of the impact caused Ressler's vehicle to flip over and off the side of the bridge.

Ressler had the presence of mind to let go of the steering wheel as the car dropped like a stone. He hit the button for the power windows making them all go down.

"Get ready!" he screamed to Lizzy.

Moments later the SUV splashed down into the frigid water.

Ressler unbuckled his seatbelt and swam out of the open window. As he started to swim toward the surface, he looked behind him expecting to see Elizabeth behind him. The water was murky even with the sun shining brightly above them. However, even with the poor visibility Don was certain that Elizabeth was not behind him.

He turned back around and swam to the car that was now resting on its roof. When he entered the car, he saw that Elizabeth was unconscious. His clumsy fingers fumbled with her seatbelt for a few seconds before he was able to free her. The freezing water was dulling his senses and diminishing his dexterity.

He was rapidly losing oxygen. If he didn't get them to the surface soon they would both drown.

Don pushed his healing leg to kick faster as he pulled Elizabeth to the surface along with him. The muscle in his leg was burning and so were his lungs. More than anything his body was screaming at him to take in a breath. However, his lungs would only be rewarded with freezing water.

Fortunately, a few short seconds later he broke the surface of the water and gasped audibly. He greedily gulped in the fresh air even as his body shivered from the below freezing temperature.

It took a moment for Ressler to regain his sense of direction and he began to frantically look around for a point to get out of water. The shores were too far away for him to make it right now. However, he did spot the concrete pylons that supported the weight of the bridge.

He swam over to the pylons pulling Elizabeth along with him. He leaned against the concrete structure that jutted out several feet into the water. Ressler struggled to catch his breath before he hauled Elizabeth and himself onto the platform.

He maneuvered the unconscious agent onto her back and started performing CPR. He had no way of contacting anyone. He was sure his phone was dead because of water damage if it had not been lost somewhere between the car and the surface. He could only hope that other motorists on the bridge at the same time called police to report the incident. Ressler was certain that he and Elizabeth hypothermia from being in the water for so long. Moreover, his attempts to revive Elizabeth were proving to be fruitless.

"Come on, baby. Breathe…"

Just as Ressler was about to lose hope Elizabeth sputtered out the water and began to breathe on her own. His head dropped back in exhaustion and relief as the younger woman began to breathe on her own.

He examined her closely and saw that she had an open wound on the side of her head. Ressler assumed this was the most likely cause for her unconsciousness. He started to check his coat pocket for his phone at the same time he heard sirens wailings. He hoped those sirens were for them because his teeth were chattering non-stop. Even with the sun shining brightly the temperature was a paltry -7 degrees.


	5. Heartbeat

Elizabeth awoke to the sound of an annoying rhythmic beeping. In her disorientated state, she reached out to turn off her alarm clock but could not find it. She felt around in midair for her nightstand but still felt nothing. Elizabeth gave up on doing it the easy way. She moved to sit up and screamed in pain as her fractured ribs moved.

Her eyes shot open and she looked around the room as a pair of strong hands pressed her back against the bed. Elizabeth blinked wildly trying to clear the haze that shrouded her vision.

She thrashed and flailed against the person holding her down. "Let me go!" she demanded in a hoarse voice that barely rose above a whisper.

A quiet but assertive voice intoned, "Lizzy, you shouldn't move. You are in no condition to get up now. Standing will only worsen your pain.”

Her breathing slowed down as she immediately recognized the voice. She whispered, "Red? What’s going on? I hurt so badly."

He slowly released her arms now that she was no longer fighting to sit up. Raymond carefully caressed her cheek and smiled in relief. "You are in a hospital. You and Agent Ressler were in a car accident."

Lizzy swallowed painfully and closed her eyes. She found herself leaning into Red’s touch and finding comfort in it. A heavy silence fell over the room as Elizabeth tried to piece together her last moments. She remembered working a case with Ressler but even the details of that were unclear. Her memory was fuzzy but the edges started to form.

"We were on our way to check out the warehouse. We-we were on the bridge and a car rammed us over the side.” She looked to Red as for confirmation. Elizabeth didn’t trust her memories right now.

He nodded. “Your car was forced off the bridge and you nearly drowned.”

“What about Agent Ressler? Is he okay?"

Red poured her a cup of water and said, "You should drink this. It will help with the scratchiness in your throat. You shouldn’t try to strain yourself by talking too much."

She closed her eyes and took a few sips of the cool water through the straw Reddington provided. The water did soothe her sore throat a little. However, she pushed his hand away. "How is Don? Did he make it out of the crash okay? Tell me!"

Red had a seat beside her bed and said, "Donald fared much better than you did, Lizzy. He is the one that pulled you out of the wreck. He had a case of mild hypothermia and a separated shoulder. The doctors kept him overnight and then released him."

Elizabeth relaxed knowing that her friend was safe. She rested her head against the pillow until her mind began working over what Raymond said to her. "Overnight? How long have I been asleep?"

"You've been unconscious since the accident --two days ago."

"Two days ago? Who did this?" Elizabeth asked. She closed her eyes and then swallowed harshly as the soreness returned. She asked, "Is there a suspect?"

Red said, "It has all been taken care of Lizzy. There is no need for you to be concerned. You should rest. I am going to go get your doctors. I'm quite sure they will want to examine you now that you have regained consciousness."

If Lizzy wasn’t so disorientated she would have noticed the way the man’s face hardened when she mentioned suspects.

He stood up from the chair, pulled on his wool coat, and put on his hat. Raymond squeezed her hand lovingly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He got ready to walk away from the bed but stopped abruptly when Lizzy squawked in protest.

Her eyes widened and she squeezed his hand with all of her might. "Please. Don't."

Raymond stopped walking and looked down into her eyes. He asked, "Don't what?"

"Don't leave me…I don’t want to be alone now."

It was irrational and not befitting of an FBI agent but she felt anxious and maybe a little afraid. She was unsure if it was genuine fear or a combination of drugs, head trauma, and general disorientation. However, Lizzy knew she didn’t want him to go.

Reddington's face softened considerably as he gazed at the scared wide eyes below him. He wanted to stay with Lizzy more than she could possibly know but several matters required his immediate attention. He said, "You have nothing to fear. Dembe will be standing outside your door to protect you from any threat. I trust him implicitly with my life and yours.” He smiled wryly. “The FBI also has a protection detail here to ensure your saftey but I wouldn’t allow them to walk my dog to say nothing of protecting something so precious to me.”

Elizabeth released his hand and turned her head away to stare at the wall. She realized that it was irrational but she felt disheartened. "Okay."

Rarely did anyone surprise Raymond Reddington. He prided himself on being able to read people with ease but this was a welcomed exception. Instead of proceeding with his plans, he walked to the door and opened it.

Dembe stepped into the room and the two men had a quiet conversation that Elizabeth couldn't hear from across the room.

Afterward Red closed the door and returned to her bedside. There was something different about the look in his eyes. "It looks like I can stay for a little while. My business can wait until later on. Dembe is going to alert the nurses to your change in condition."

Elizabeth watched as Red removed his coat and hat and replaced them on the back of his chair. He was staying. Why was he staying? Why had she asked him to stay? Why was she precious?

None of that matted when Raymond sat on beside Elizabeth on the bed and cautiously pulled her into his arms. He rested his chin atop her head and began to hum a soft melody. Raymond slowly smoothed his hand over her hair as she relaxed.

She listened carefully as it soothed her confused mind. The quiet melody sounded so familiar to her. It was like a gentle caress against her ears. It took a few moments but recognition flickered into her tired eyes. Her father, Sam, used to hum this song when she was a little girl whenever she felt scared. She didn’t understand how Raymond knew about the song or how he knew she needed to hear it more than anything else right now.


	6. In C Minor

Raymond walked into a warehouse with a cheerful smile on his face. He welcomed the relaxing sound of Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor filling the otherwise cavernous space. He arrived much later than anticipated but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Lizzy when she was so fragile. He couldn’t blame her for being fearful after a major trauma. Moreover, she didn’t really have a support system to speak of since her separation from Tom Keen -- well, Agent Ressler seemed willing enough to offer his support. The young man arrived an hour before Raymond left the hospital.

Mr. Kaplan took a step forward looking fastidious as she always did. She inclined her head toward Raymond as she took note of his smile. “How is young Elizabeth feeling tonight, Raymond?”

“She is resting comfortably and shouldn’t wake again tonight. Her nurse administered a truly impressive dose of medication to ease some of her pain. I’ll be sure to make it back there before she wakes tomorrow morning. Oh, I want to see about getting her something to brighten her stay at the hospital. It is my understanding from Elizabeth’s doctor that she will be there for at least a few more days. I would also like to find something to entertain her.”

She nodded easily and removed the latex gloves from her hands. “Very well. The tactical team you requested is stationed in the building across from the hospital. They have a clear line of sight into the hospital room and two snipers at the ready. If you no longer need my assistance here I will get to work on acquiring those items for Elizabeth.”

Raymond looked over her shoulder to the four men bound and gagged. He smiled at Mr. Kaplan. “You may take your leave of this situation. I’ll handle the rest of this evening’s festivities on my own.”

“I will return first thing in the morning to clean up the miss. Good night, Raymond.”

He gallantly tipped his hat to Mr. Kaplan and watched as she exited the warehouse locking the doors behind her. Raymond spun around with a broad smile on his face and clapped his hands together in genuine excitement. “Well, it looks as if it is just the five of us! This should be great fun!”

Raymond took off his hat and placed it on a nearby table. He hummed along to the music as he slowly unbuttoned his coat and draped it over the back of a chair. He repeated the action with the blazer and vest he was wearing.

The four men watched the eerily call scene in rapt silence. When they took the job each man understood, what his fate would be if Reddington’s people caught him. The Concierge of Crime wasn’t known for being particularly merciful and they had struck at his very heart.

Raymond rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt and moved to pour a glass of wine. His eyes roved over the table set up by Mr. Kaplan. The woman’s attention to detail was superb. Everything was laid out just as he had requested.

He picked up a gun from the table and shot one of the men in the forehead. Raymond returned the gun to its place on the table and then took a sip of his wine. “Mmm…that’s a little earthier than I expected, but I do like the hint currant. I think I will try another vintage the next time.”

He sat down in the chair and crossed his legs as he took another sip of his wine. “As you can see I had no use for the man there on the end. He was driving the car that caused the accident. I also know he was just the wheelman. He isn’t exactly useful to our conversation. The rest of you have the opportunity to leave this warehouse alive and with all of your limbs still attached.”

He chuckled at his purposeful mistake. “Well, what I mean to say is that there is a chance for one of you to leave this place alive. However, you only get that opportunity if you give me the complete truth. You do not know what information I already have so it wouldn’t be prudent of you to lie to me. The first lie out of your mouth equals a bullet to the head like your friend Franklin. I have left all of you gagged for now because I wanted to give you the opportunity to truly consider your options. I want you to think carefully about if you truly want to lie to me. While all of you ponder your predicament I am going to enjoy my dinner.”

Raymond rose from his chair and walked over to the table where the meal Mr. Kaplan ordered was waiting for him. Despite his late arrival, his dinner was piping hot.

He sat down at the table and smiled at the chicken saltimbocca in front of him. Raymond hadn’t really eaten anything since Elizabeth was rushed to the hospital. He refused to leave while she was unconscious and wouldn’t dare consume anything the hospital made. Honestly, he hadn’t had the appetite to eat while Elizabeth was unconscious.

Raymond took his time enjoying the music and his meal. He was more relaxed than he had been since he received the call about the attempt on Lizzy’s life. The voice on the other end of the line had been none other than Tom Keen. He wasn’t sure if the younger man was calling to taunt him or warn him. Either way when Raymond saw him again there would be so many things for them to discuss. The item at the top of his list were the bruises he saw in a photograph Dembe sent to him while he was out of the country. The idea of Tom striking Lizzy made the man’s blood boil.

When he finally finished eating, Raymond smiled at his captive audience and stood up. “Well, we can’t wait all night to get started.”

 


	7. Wolf

In the middle of the night, Elizabeth awakened with a start. Her hand involuntarily flew to her chest as if she was having trouble breathing. She was having a vivid dream of dying in the submerged car at the bottom of the river. Elizabeth opened her eyes in a panic, but she calmed down seeing Donald asleep in the chair next to her bed. She wondered when he had arrived. The last time she was awake it was daylight and Red was encouraging her to eat the meal he procured from some five-star restaurant.

She focused on Don's sleeping face and smiled. There were a few lacerations and bruises on his face but otherwise he looked healthy. She believed Reddington when he assured her that Agent Ressler was in good health. However, she would rather see it with her own two eyes.

Ressler looked utterly uncomfortable in the chair beside her bed. He was still wearing a starched white button up shirt and black slacks. It was obvious he had come to the hospital after leaving work.

She smiled thinking she shouldn’t be too surprised that he was back at work already. Ressler was itching to get back to work while he was recuperating from the shooting. Elizabeth had pestered him relentlessly to stay in bed but he would hear nothing of it. He pushed himself to power through his rehab so that he could return to work. The man had no concept of taking it easy.

She reached out and slipped her hand into his."Donnie?"

His eyes shot open when he heard Lizzy’s soft voice. He had become attuned to the quiet voice she used when wanting to wake him up without startling him. Agent Ressler sat up in the chair with a concerned look on his face. He clutched her hand and asked, "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm glad that you're here. I was worried about you. When I first woke up here, I thought…I thought the worst had happened. Reddington had to convince me otherwise.”

Donald understood the anxiety she felt all too well. He had paced for hours waiting for her to wake up. It had been like a nightmare and no amount of reassurance from Reddington or the doctors could soothe him. He shushed her and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. "I'm fine. I just had a little hypothermia."

She scoffed but flashed an amused smile. "No one has a little hypothermia. Any leads on who did this to us?"

He shook his head and smiled wryly. “We think this has something to do with the name on the Blacklist but we can’t be sure. We’ve both made enemies on the job, even more in these last few months working with Reddington. Of course, the warehouse you and I were going to investigate at the time of the accident has been burned to the ground. There is not a useful scrap of evidence left behind but we have techs scouring the place now looking for some small clue.”

Elizabeth frowned but she really shouldn’t have expected anything different. While everyone’s attention was on the accident Adler had disappeared. That enraged her more than the attempt on their lives. The man was scum and she wouldn’t be happy until he was sitting in a very small cell for the rest of his life. He was responsible for the deaths of so many innocents. She glanced at the other side of the bed as something occurred to her. “Where’s Red?”

“Reddington left a few hours ago. He left Dembe behind to protect you. I told him that wasn’t necessary because you have a FBI security detail but…”

She snorted slightly and nodded in understanding. “Red doesn’t trust the FBI for any reason. I hate it but sometimes he’s right…”

Agent Ressler didn’t like to admit it either but there were times when he doubted the competency of certain agents. The bureau was supposed to be a meritocracy but some unqualified agents made it through the rigors of training. He said, “Reddington promised he would be back before morning. He thought that you would sleep all night.”

“I probably would have if a nightmare hadn’t disturbed my rest.” She went quiet for several minutes before she asked, “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at home getting rest in an actual bed?”

He shrugged. “I guess I could be home sleeping but I thought a better use of my time would be staying here with you.”

The truth was the house felt strange without Lizzy moving around it. He had become accustomed to her presence and their routine. Ressler felt uncomfortable being in the house without her. It was stupid because he’d live there long before she moved in but it just didn’t sit right with him.

Elizabeth squeezed his hand. “I’m glad that you are here.”

He smiled and produced a cell phone from his coat pocket. “Aram asked me to bring over your new phone. The old one wasn’t really salvageable by the time the car was pulled from the river. He is letting it dry out and then he might be able to pull your old data off it if you are interested. In the meantime, this phone has your old phone number. Someone’s been sending you text messages since we turned it on but I haven’t read them.” 

She smiled and took the phone. “I will have to thank Aram for this. I hadn’t given my phone any thought. I didn’t really have anything important on that phone other than my contacts but I have those backed up on my computer. The same goes for any pictures that might have been on there.”

Lizzy opened her messages and started reading them. Her face paled considerably and started to glance around the room as if looking for something unseen.

Donald stood up. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and went back to staring at the screen.

He stopped so he was closer to eye level. “Hey…I need you to talk to me. What’s going on?”

Lizzy replied, “Tom.”

Don gave her a confused look. “What about Tom?”

“He’s the one that has been sending me messages. There are dozens here. The most recent one asked why you were in my room with me.”

Ressler took the phone from her hand and skimmed to open text message. He flicked through a few more messages and quickly realized Tom was trying to lure Lizzy back to him. “We’ll have the room searched for cameras and bugs. I am sorry. I don’t know how he would have gotten in here. I suppose he could have paid off a nurse or technician to do his dirty work for him while you were alone.”

“This is the first time I’ve been out in the open while not on the job since I moved out of our house. I stayed off the radar specifically to stay away from him. I don’t know who he really is but I’ve seen a little of what he is capable of doing. When I tried to leave him…”

He frowned but didn’t say anything. Every time he asked what happened the day she left Tom, Elizabeth would refuse to elaborate. She would only say that it ended badly. The bruises she tried to hide with make-up spoke to just how bad it was.

Elizabeth continued, “He didn’t strike me like an abusive husband would. I’m a trained professional and he’s no heavy-weight. I anticipated being able to subdue him. He came at me like a well-trained agent, Don. His punches and kicks landed in all the right places. He knew how to counter my moves and he blocked my punches like a professional. Even once I was on the ground, he didn’t relent. I thought for sure he might kill me. I could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t just a professional preventing me from ruining his operation. He was desperate to keep me there. He looked, I don’t know, betrayed. He looked like he would kill me before he let me leave him, but just as quickly as it all started -- it stopped. Then it was all sweet words, apologies, and promises. I disappeared because I didn’t want to know what would happen if he found me again.”

Donald sighed heavily and tried to quell the desire to find Tom. Instead, he pulled Lizzy into a gentle hug as to not jostle her injuries. “I’m sorry you went through that. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I don’t want him arrested on some domestic violence charge. I want Red to find him. I want to know why he married me. I want to know why he manipulated me for years. He made me fall in love with him and it was all a game. I want to know what he knows about my father. I want to know the identity of his boss. There are a lot questions only he can answer. I can’t ask those questions if he is behind bars.”

He said, “Well, you need to at least tell Reddington that Tom knows your location. He may decide to see you in person since you aren’t answering his messages.”

She nodded. “You’re right. Do you think you could tell Dembe? Wherever Reddington is right now Dembe will be able to get in touch with him.”

Donald nodded. “Sure. I’ll be right back.” He walked out of the room closing the door behind him. He wasn’t surprised to see Dembe standing at attention. The man’s level of dedication was enviable. He also wondered what Reddington had done to earn such loyalty. It couldn’t just be money. He thought back to the brand he remembered seeing on Dembe’s shoulder and the trafficker Reddington killed.

Dembe raised an eyebrow at Donald. He had checked on Lizzy not more than an hour ago and both of them were sound asleep. “How can I help you?”

“Elizabeth thought Reddington should know that Tom Keen has been sending her text messages all evening. She just now read them. He knows that I’m in her hospital room. We think he may have a camera or a listening device in the room.”

The older man frowned. It was also completely possible that Tom had the bright idea to set up across the street from the hospital just as Raymond did. He picked up his radio and said, “Sweep the building for Tom Keen. You have his photo in the dossier.”

Donald eyed Dembe suspiciously. “Reddington knew that Tom was stalking Elizabeth?”

“I don’t know what Raymond knows. I know that I’ve been tasked with keeping an eye out for him since the moment Agent Keen moved out of their house. Any other information you will have to get from Raymond when he returns in a few hours.”

“Where is Reddington anyway? He didn’t leave the hospital once while Liz was unconscious. Now he’s just disappears for hours…”

Dembe just stared at Agent Ressler blankly. The young man knew better than to think that he would get an actual answer out of him. He reached into a duffel bag at his feet and produced a wand that would find any listening devices.

Ressler scowled and walked back into Lizzy’s room. “I told Dembe. He will be on the lookout. He also gave me this so that I can make sure the room isn’t bugged.”

She shook her head. “Red thinks of everything.”

"I guess you could say that." He moved around the room as he passed the wand over the most obvious places for bugs. However, he assumed that Dembe would be doing this himself if he actually thought there was something to find. 

The door opened and Mr. Kaplan stepped into the room. "How are you feeling, Agent Keen?"

Donald eyed the woman but didn't ask any questions.

Lizzy was shocked and a little uncomfortable with her being there. She tried not to involve Ressler in her side projects with Reddington. "Hi, Mr. Kaplan. I am a little foggy because of the medication but all-in-all I am well."

The older woman was carrying several shopping bags. "That is good to hear. I just wanted to stop by to give you these. I understand from Raymond that the doctors would like for you to stay here for the rest of the week. He thought you might become restless."

Lizzy looked in the bags and her eyes widened. She didn't understand how Red knew so much about the things that mattered most to her. She removed a tin of her favorite cookies from the bag and laughed softly. "Thank you, Mr. Kaplan."

"I am at your disposal if you have need of me. You know how to get in touch."

The young woman nodded again. "I do."

Mr. Kaplan smile briefly before leaving the room.

 


	8. The Whole Truth?

Even with Reddington’s generous gifts and Agent Ressler’s frequent companionship Lizzy started to become restless after being confined to a hospital bed for nearly a week. She understood her body was not in any condition to resume normal work duties. However, she was eager to go home. She missed being there with Donald.

Their interactions at the hospital were guarded because they never knew who would walk into the room. They both realized something was going on between them but this didn’t seem like the place to address that. Fraternization between agents was frowned upon and strictly prohibited between partners. Assistant Director Cooper wouldn’t look kindly upon their budding romance. It was very likely that one of them would be assigned a new partner.

Donald walked into the room carrying a takeout bag. He looked a little tired after a long day at work but he was always happy to see Lizzy. He smiled. “How are you?”

Lizzy put her tablet down and smiled in return. “I am ready to get out of here. Dr. Calloway thinks he can release me tomorrow or the day after.”

He placed his coat and suit jacket over the back of the chair before he sat beside her bed. While he loosened his tie he said, “Well, that is good news, Liz. Have you eaten?”

She shook her head. “Not since lunch. The food they were serving for dinner looked inedible. It was supposed to be turkey but it looked as if it was fake or processed. I ate the broccoli that came with it. It wasn’t so bad.”

He chuckled and pulled a Styrofoam container from the bag. “Spoiled. I guess you are lucky I decided to bring you dinner. I picked up your favorite meal from Las Casitas. ”

Elizabeth’s eyes lit up at the mention of their favorite restaurant. She had discovered Las Casitas while Donald was laid up after the shooting. Many nights she was too tired to contemplate cooking for them. Instead, she would stop off at the mom and pop restaurant and pick up dinner. It had become a sort of ritual for the pair. If neither felt like cooking, they would go to Las Casitas to have dinner. Too often, it felt like a date to Lizzy and she struggled to suppress those feelings.

Donald couldn’t hide the smile on his face seeing the way Liz lit up at something so simple. He handed the container and a plastic fork to Lizzy. Afterward he settled in his chair with his own meal.

Lizzy started eating dinner. “How was work today? You look exhausted.”

“I am exhausted. I spent the day pursuing leads on the group that was hired to force us off the bridge.”

She perked up a little. “Did any of the leads pan out?”

His eyes darkened and he shook his head. “I guess you can say that. The case is all but closed now. Aram is still chasing down the account that wired payment into their accounts. However, we found all of the members of the crew dead this afternoon. Whoever got to them first took them apart before finally killing them. They have been dead a couple days. Cooper has his own ideas about who is responsible for their deaths.”

Her eyes widened. "Red?"

He nodded. "I guess he takes it personal when someone tries to kill his daughter. I doubt my near death inspired the kind of rage he expended on the victims. We can't prove it of course but just two days after the crash they were all dead. They were worked over hard as if the person was seeking information. It has Reddington’s name written all over it. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, he is always several steps ahead of us."

Elizabeth looked as if she was mulling something over in her head.

He watched her with curiosity. “What’s wrong?”

“When I first woke up after the accident I asked Red if there were any leads on who tried to kill us. He told me that it was taken care of already. I didn't understand it at the time but I suppose it is safe to assume that he already had his people working to apprehend them. It still doesn't prove I'm his daughter."

Donald said, "No, that doesn't but this does."

Lizzy watched as he pulled a folded envelope from his pocket. "Are those the results?"

"My friend at the lab brought those over to me today. He didn't want them just laying around since they don't exist in the records. He assured me everything pertaining to the test has been destroyed."

She looked at the envelope and then back to him. Suddenly there was a knot in her stomach. "Did you read them?"

He nodded and offered a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. Curiosity got the best of me when I saw him sitting by your bedside. I didn't see a potential lover. That was the concern of a father. I looked to confirm it to myself."

Elizabeth sucked in a nervous breath and stared into Donald’s eyes feeling her heartbeat faster. She almost didn’t want to know the truth. Finally, she asked, "I'm his daughter?"

Don placed his food on the nightstand and removed the results. He read them aloud, "Donor 9088914560 cannot be excluded as the biological father of Donor 9088581812. Based on the testing results obtained from the analyses of 15 different DNA probes, the probability of paternity is 99.999%. You are most definitely his daughter, Liz. Now you know the truth."

"Do I?" asked Lizzy.

"What do you mean? Do you think the results of the test were falsified? I have known Jack for a long time and he his trustworthy. I also know that he runs a tight ship. You can believe these to be the truth."

She shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean. If you trust your friend, then I trust your judgment, Don. I just mean that now I know that I am his daughter but I don't know anything else. I guess I naively thought if I had confirmation that my curiosity would be satisfied."

"You're not satisfied?" He had hoped finding out the truth would bring her some peace. Donald knew that she struggled with not knowing anything about her past. It was as if the first years of her life didn’t even happen. There were no real records concerning Elizabeth until after she was in Sam’s custody.

"Not in the least. There are too many unanswered questions. Why didn't he just tell me the truth from the beginning? Why the charades? Why the Blacklist? How well did he know Sam? What does he actually know about the man that married me? I’ve always known that Red knew more than he was telling me but I can’t take the secrets any longer."

Ressler said, "Well, the benefits are two-fold. The Blacklist gave him access to the bureau and you. Second, he's profited from several of our operations. We've known from the beginning that Reddington was working some angle that benefited him."

"He could have taken that to anyone. He targeted the bureau because of me. The CIA would have gladly taken his assistance. How could he work with me every day and not tell me that I'm his daughter?"

He squeezed her hand. "I'm no fan of his but maybe it is to protect you. His involvement in your life probably explains why your adopted father's criminal background didn't show up when you were vetted. I am sure he has the connections to bribe or cajole the right person to make it all go away."

"Maybe. I just want a straight answer out of him."

"What are you going to do now?"

Lizzy picked with her hospital ID bracelet and said, "I'm going to confront him."


	9. Hang Me Up To Dry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me fits but it is finally finished. I am still not sure how good it is but hopefully the next few will be easier to write.

The problem with confronting Reddington was that Lizzy knew he was always lying to her. He only told enough of the truth to make her go along with his ideas and to allow him to remain a part of her life. For months, she tolerated it because she was looking for answers and there was the thinnest of hopes that one day he would honest. Until recently she had been willing to play his game to see where it all ended.

However, getting the DNA test results lit a fire underneath Elizabeth. She couldn’t continue to look at him and know that he was lying to her with every breath. She was used to his dishonesty but Reddington wasn’t lying to her about some criminal on his ‘Blacklist’. He was lying to her about her identity. He had the answers of what happened to her as a child and he refused to say a word. Perhaps Don was right and this was an elaborate ruse to keep her safe but even that was a little presumptuous on his part. She wasn’t helpless by any stretch of the imagination and she more than deserved the truth from him.

Since last night, Elizabeth plotted her next move. She was a profiler and she knew that directly confronting Reddington would only gain her denials or silence. He was skilled at lying and evasion tactics. Lizzy would have to do something to spur him into action. It was a risk on her part but she hoped the payoff in the end would be worth it.

She looked over at Don and smiled seeing him resting uncomfortably in the chair beside her bed. She had tried to convince him to go home but he wouldn’t have it. He was worried about Tom making an appearance at the hospital. Reddington assured them that she was safe but Donald was a hands on sort of man. He felt better if he was there to protect her. The good news was that she would be released tomorrow.

Elizabeth reached over and turned off the IV pump because she couldn’t have the alarms going off and waking up Donald or alerting Dembe. She slowly removed the IVs from her veins and put pressure to stop the minor bleeding. She waited a few minutes and cleaned the area with the bed sheet to ensure the bleeding stopped.

She eased out of the bed hoping not to wake up Donald. She grabbed the bag he brought from home for her. Lizzy hastily selected the warmest clothes available and stripped off her hospital gown. She put on a bra and briefly smirked at the idea of Donald having to go through her underwear drawer.  

Agent Ressler opened his eyes hearing movement in the room. His hand went to his gun on instinct but pulled away when his eyes fell on Lizzy. She was dressed in a pair of panties and a bra. However, she was awkwardly trying to pull a pair of jeans up her legs.

“What are you doing?” he asked incredulously. He was too suspicious to appreciate her nearly nude state.

Lizzy hastily yanked the denim material the rest of the way up her thighs and fastened her jeans. “I’ve decided that I have to confront Reddington.”

Don's eyes widened as he got to his feet. "It is the middle of the night and he was just here a few hours ago. Can’t it wait until the morning?”

She shook her head. “I think I’ve waited long enough to have this conversation. Don’t you?”

He sighed and rubbed at his eyes tiredly.  “He owes you the truth but you can't leave the hospital yet. The doctor wants to keep you for another couple of days."

Lizzy said, "I've got it under control. I talked to him earlier. He told me that he is going to release me sometime tomorrow anyway. He said that I could recuperate at home.”

Ressler ran a frustrated hand over his already mussed hair. “Why can’t you just wait until tomorrow to go home? Why do you have to leave tonight?”

She pulled on an oversized sweater. “I am not going home. I can’t…there is something I’ve got to do.”

He eyed her for a moment. “What the hell are you up to, Liz? I’m not just going to let you walk out of here in your condition!”

“Be quiet! I don’t want Dembe coming in the room. I have to do this, Don. I’ve thought it through…trust me. There isn’t much else to do in the hospital besides thinking and sleeping.”

Dembe overheard their raised voices and walked into the room. “Is everything okay, Agent Keen?”

Elizabeth glared at Reddington’s trusted bodyguard. "You tell Red I want to see him now or I'm walking out of this hospital and I'll just disappear. He knows enough about my past to know that I know how to drop out of sight for a while if I need to. You tell him I took a DNA test. He’s a smart man…I’m sure he can figure out what I mean."

Dembe frowned deeply but gave her a curt nod. He walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Dembe knew for a fact that Raymond was busy and would not be able to come to the hospital. However, he hoped the man would at least talk to Elizabeth to calm her down.

She quickly stuffed her belongings into the duffel bag. She didn’t have much in the hospital room but it would have to make do. She couldn’t exactly stop at Ressler’s house to pack more than this.

Ressler said, "You can't be serious."

Lizzy said, "Red doesn't do idle threats. I have to be ready to walk out of this hospital to force his hand. I will call Assistant Director Cooper and tell him I am taking some time off because of my injuries. I'm going to have to drop out of sight for awhile, Don."

He swallowed thickly and reluctantly asked, "How long is awhile?"

She shrugged and picked up the bag from the bed. "If I know Red, and I think I do, he'll come looking for me. I just have to wait for him to find me. I don't know how long that will take. I have to know the whole story and I have to figure out what the hell I'm going to do because I don't think the daughter of Raymond Reddington has a place at the FBI. They may not fire me but my clearance level is going to take a hit and my career is not going to go anywhere. I'll get a desk in some crappy field office in the middle of nowhere. You know how all this works."

Ressler walked around the bed until they were standing in front of one another without so much as an inch of space between them. He stared at her intently but didn’t say anything while he mulled the situation over in his head. He grasped her forearms in a gentle hold to prevent her from moving away.

Lizzy stared into his icy blue eyes and felt her heart start to beat faster. She flashed back to the night she kissed him and felt color rising in her cheeks. He had been enough of a gentleman not to mention it the next day but she wondered if he was just not interested in her that way. There were signs that he was attracted to her of course but attraction was the same thing as wanting more.

Don realized that he was just holding Lizzy there. He abandoned all pretense of there only being a platonic relationship between the two of them as his lips pressed against hers. Neither of them were impaired so there were no excuses. This kiss was happening because they wanted it to happen. He released her arms and felt the bag drop to the floor. Don put his hands on Lizzy's hips and pulled her against him.

Lizzy was startled by the intensity of the kiss but she melted into it with little thought. His embrace was warm and the smell of his cologne was driving her insane. She put her arms around his neck knowing the kiss would end soon but shamelessly not wanting it to.

Finally, Donald pulled back from the kiss and looked into her eyes. "Where are you going to go?"

"It is better that you don't know. I don't want you having to lie for me. I don't know how all of this is going to turn out. One day you might have to answer questions about this. I've already involved you too much by telling you my theory and allowing you to help me."

"You didn’t allow me to do anything. I wanted to help you. You didn't twist my arm, Liz." His hands framed her face as he tried to figure out a way to dissuade her from running.

Lizzy said, "I know but I've put you in a bad position. What happens if you are polygraphed and they ask if you knew my father was a man that committed treason? You have a duty to report this."

"I told you that I wouldn't. I meant that. I would never go back on my promise to you."

She caressed his cheek and said, "I believe you. I'm just saying that maybe you should. I don't want your career to be effected by this. Report it to Cooper and then wash your hands of the situation.”

Ressler heard the silent implication that he should wash his hands of Elizabeth as well but that wasn’t about to happen.

“You should go. I need finish getting dressed then I'm going to get out of here."

"How are you going to do that with Dembe standing guard?"

She said, "I'll figure something out. I can be resourceful when I want to be, Don."

Donald sighed and said, "You've got 5 minutes to get ready. I'll help you get past Dembe. You’re going to need a ride anyway."

Lizzy nodded and kissed him. "Thank you."

As soon as Don exited the room, Lizzy sat on the edge of the bed and put on socks and a pair of boots. She pulled off her sweater and searched the bag for another long sleeve shirt. She settled on a button up shirt and pulled it on along with the sweater. Layers were her friend at this point. She was grateful that he chose well because her exit plan was a decidedly bad one. She appreciated his offer of help but she had to do this on her own. Liz couldn’t risk jeopardizing his career or worse getting her heartbroken if he changed his mind along the way.

Once Lizzy was dressed, she swiped Don's coat from the back of his chair. She felt a little guilty but at least he would have a warm car to climb into when he left the hospital. She needed it more than him right now. Elizabeth put on the wool pea coat and went over to the window. She slowly turned the crank until it was open wide enough for a body to slip out of it. Lizzy counted her blessings that this was an aging federal hospital with 1950's construction. Some newer hospital's windows would not open at all. She sat on the windowsill and then swung her legs out of the window.

Just then, Dembe walked into the room with a phone in his hand. Raymond had agreed to speak to Lizzy to calm her down until they could speak in person. "Mr. Reddington said he can't…”  Dembe yelled, “Wait!"

Lizzy looked over her shoulder and said, "Tell him to find me!"

She jumped from the fourth floor window and landed onto the metal canopy below. Lizzy got back onto her feet and ran to the edge. From that position, she hopped down onto the ground and took off running. She heard footsteps behind her and realized Dembe wasn't the only one watching her hospital room (yet another secret Red hadn’t thought to clue her in on). She didn't know if it was Red's people, the FBI, or someone else but she knew that disappearing into the night was her best bet so she did just that.


	10. Hide and Seek

Donald walked into the hospital room just in time for Dembe to run past him. He looked at the empty room and shook his head in frustration. He couldn’t believe that he allowed his feelings for Elizabeth to compromise his instincts. She duped him so easily that it was laughable.

Lizzy knew him well enough to know that he would have tried to go with her. He had serious doubts about her plan. Donald walked over to the open window and looked out. He frowned as he considered the height of the drop. Even with the metal canopy a few stories below it was still quite a distance to jump for someone in Lizzy’s condition.

If he had to wager a guess, he would assume that she at the very least hurt her ankle in the jump. That would slow her down and perhaps make her consider an alternate means of transportation.

Donald hoped that her sluggish pace would allow him to track her down before this got too out of hand. He heard approaching sirens and decided to make himself scarce. If Ressler was at the hospital when the bureau arrived he would be subjected to questions he didn’t want to answer. However, he was more concerned about the men that ran off in the direction he could assume Lizzy escaped. They weren’t dressed right to be from the bureau. They we either employed by Reddington or the person that had been targeting him.

He stopped by his chair to grab his coat and groaned seeing that it was gone. Donald quickly made his way out of the hospital and went to his car in the parking lot. He fished his keys out of his pants’ pocket and was suddenly very glad he hadn’t left them in the pocket of his coat like he normally did.  

Don sat there a moment trying to figure out the best course of action and the one that would draw the least attention. Lizzy obviously had a checkered past. That much was obvious from the moment Reddington showed up at the FBI. The man had somehow concealed Sam’s criminal background to prevent it from hindering Lizzy’s desire to join the bureau. He had to assume that Reddington had done the same for Lizzy. As they had become closer friends during her stay at his house, she revealed certain pieces of her past to him.

Some of those revelations were voluntary and others were Freudian slips of the tongue. Sometimes it felt like Elizabeth wanted to tell him the truth but couldn’t take the risk. Her past was obviously something she guarded closely. It occurred to him that Tom Keen wasn’t the only one lying about who they really were.

He reached into his pants pocket for his phone and shook his head realizing it must has been his coat pocket. In that moment, it was as if a light bulb went on. There was a chance that Lizzy didn’t know Don’s phone was in the pocket of his coat. If he could track the phone before she made that discovery then he could get a location on her.

Donald started his car and burned rubber as he peeled out of the parking lot. He couldn’t exactly use bureau resources to locate Lizzy without raising flags with Assistant Director Cooper but he knew someone else that could pull off the feat easily. He just hoped he could convince the man to do the work off the books.

He flew past the hospital as local law enforcement vehicles began to arrive. No doubt, they were responding to emergency calls of a woman jumping from a window. Donald had to give it to Elizabeth she knew how to make an exit.

Donald drove toward Aram’s house. He knew where everyone on the task force lived because as soon as he was cleared for work he had gone over every file he had clearance for, and a few he didn’t, with a fine toothcomb. He agreed with Reddington’s assessment that there was a mole in ‘The Post Office’. There was no other explanation for how the assault team made entry and crippled their security systems with relative ease. He was determined to figure out who was responsible for so many deaths and for his own injury.

He wondered if Elizabeth’s plot would work. Reddington hoarded secrets the way a squirrel hoarded nuts. If he had kept her identity a secret for nearly 30 years he doubted the man would fold like a house of cards easily. At the same time Reddington’s insistence that Dembe stand guard outside of Lizzy’s room even after the culprits behind the accident had been found dead suggested he knew of a danger he wasn’t telling them about. His secrets and half-truths weren’t out of the ordinary but right now it could get Lizzy killed.

Agent Ressler kept a careful watch on his speed. He wanted to get to Aram’s house quickly because time was of the essence but it also wouldn’t be a good idea to get stopped by the police. Information like that generally had a way of getting back to the bureau. Assistant Director Cooper would be looking for anything to explain Liz’s sudden disappearance and interesting exit method. He was definitely going to question Agent Ressler and he couldn’t provide any extra ammunition to bolster the theory that he knew what was going on.

After a nearly 45 minute ride, Donald pulled into Aram’s neighborhood. It was a quiet little subdivision that he assumed was occupied by young families. He grumbled in annoyance as he realized all of the houses looked similar. Agent Ressler diligently looked for addresses on the curbs or mailboxes but quickly learned they were on the actual houses.

Some of the houses’ porch lights were on to illuminate the numbers but the majority of the houses were dark. He had to count the houses and hope his math wasn’t off. Although considering his relative lack of solid rest since the accident it was altogether possible that he would get it wrong.

He slowed to a stop in front of a house and squinted in the darkness to see the numbers better. Ressler gave up and searched his glove compartment for the flashlight he should have retrieved from the start. He grunted in triumph when he found his flashlight and then shined it at the house.

Ressler smiled when he saw that it was the right house and turned the flashlight off. This was the first thing that had gone right all evening. He was hoping that getting Aram’s help would be as easy. Ressler climbed out of the car and sprinted to the front door. He rang the bell despite the late hour. He couldn’t chance Aram sleeping through him knocking.

He waited impatiently for several minutes before pressing the bell again. He could hear the chime through the door so he knew the thing worked.

The porch light turned on casting a bright glow over the entire porch. It was then that Ressler noticed the small security camera angled at the front door. He gave a wave to the camera.

Aram opened the door wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of boxers. His dark hair was standing on end and he looked like he wanted to murder Donald. “Is there an emergency?”

“You could say that. I am sorry for waking you up but I need your help, Aram. Liz is in trouble…”

The exhausted man woke up a little more hearing that there was something going on with Agent Keen. He beckoned Ressler into the house. “Is she okay? I talked to her earlier and she told me that she was feeling better.”

Don closed the front door and followed the technician into his kitchen. “She is recovering well but that’s not what I am here about. What I am about to ask of you can’t go any further than this room.”

Aram filled his coffee maker and then turned around to study Agent Ressler’s pensive expression. He scoffed and offered a tired smile. “I am used to that when it comes to Agent Keen. What do you need?”

He said, “She’s done a runner because of Reddington and I need to find her before she gets hurt. When Agent Keen fled the hospital, she stole my coat. It just so happens that my phone is in there. I was hoping that you could track the phone’s location so that I can find her. There is always a chance that she might have found the phone and ditched it by now but…it’s the best shot I’ve got.”

Aram stared at him for a moment before springing into action. He walked out of the kitchen and led the way to his dining room. The space was used as an office instead of its intended purpose.

The technician sat down at his desk and booted up his computer system. He quickly entered his password and then looked at Ressler. “That isn’t the only way we can track her movements. The hospital is located within a 3-mile area that contains scores of surveillance cameras. There are several important buildings both known and unknown to the public in that vicinity. Federal and local officials observe the area closely for threats. Do you know the serial number for you phone?”

Ressler shook his head and said, “No, I don’t know it by heart. I would need the phone.”

Aram shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Is it your bureau issued phone?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Good…” Aram’s fingers moved over the keys fluidly as he set to work. He asked, “Are you going to give me any details about why Agent Keen would decide to disappear in the middle of the night?”

Donald considered telling Aram the truth but knew that he couldn’t do that. First, it wasn’t his secret to tell. Second, if this all went to hell in a hand basket there was no need to take Aram with them. He shook his head. “You know Liz’s relationship with Reddington is weird. It has only gotten weirder since her marriage to Tom ended. She is convinced he knows more about the man that was posing as her husband than he is telling her.”

Aram accepted the story to be true because Elizabeth had asked him months ago to dig into Tom Keen’s background. He wasn’t able to tell her much more than she already knew. His identity was fabricated but it was iron clad. The identity was some of the best work he had seen in a very long time. It was almost as good as Elizabeth’s identity.

He quickly worked his magic on the backdoor he left in the system at work. He never knew when he would have need of those resources off the clock. Aram was beginning to learn that things were hardly ever black and white this high up in the government. Once he snagged the serial number for Agent Ressler’s phone, he set to tracking the phone.

“The phone is still on,” he informed Agent Ressler without breaking his gaze on the screen. A few minutes later he said, “I’ve got her. I don’t know if she still has the phone but I do have a location.”

Ressler said, “Great. Thank you for your help, Aram. What’s the location?”

Aram picked up a pen and pad and jotted down the address. He ripped off the page and handed it to Donald. “How serious is all of this? I mean…is she going to be okay?”

“I’m going to make sure that she is. I need to get out of here. We don’t know how long she is going to sit still.”

“Hold on,” said Aram. He left his chair and opened a drawer of the desk. He grabbed a phone and turned it on. “I keep burners in case of an emergency. If you need my help, just call me. This is the number to another burner phone.”

His fingers flew over the keys as he added a number to the contact list. Afterward he handed it to Agent Ressler.

Donald said, “Thank you, Aram. I’ve got to go but don’t mention this to anyone.”

“I won’t say a word.”

Ressler nodded and quickly left the house.


	11. Going My Way?

Elizabeth Keen was seated on a mostly empty charter bus heading to Atlanta. However, the bus would stop in several cities before it reached the final destination. She planned to hop off at one of the smaller cities and then disappear into a nearby town or suburb while she made plans that were more concrete.

She was wearing a Nationals cap she purchased at the little shop inside the bus terminal. In an effort to change her appearance, Elizabeth had chopped off her shoulder length hair into a quick but effective pixie cut. She was wearing a pair of black rimmed reading glasses she purchased at the pharmacy where she picked up the medical supplies she would need to tend to her wounds. She reached into the bag of hastily acquired snacks and snagged a candy bar. She was hungry and frankly would need the sugar rush to stay alert for the rest of the night.

Elizabeth’s eyes casually scanned the bus as she bit into the candy bar. She was certain that she wasn’t followed. Sam taught her to spot a tail before she was in middle school. However, it never hurt to be cautious. She now knew that the men watching the hospital had been both Reddington’s and someone else’s. As one man nearly caught up to her he was shot from behind with a silenced weapon this allowed her to escape. She assumed that the man firing the shot had been in Reddington’s employ.

Once she was satisfied, that no one seemed to be paying attention to her Elizabeth removed the bus schedule from her pocket. She studied the piece of paper carefully to find the best place to stop. Atlanta meant being on the bus for far too long. This bus wouldn’t arrive at its destination for at least 14 hours. Moreover, Atlanta was too big a city. Reddington was a man of means and would have contacts in many of the major cities. It would be easier to disappear in the surrounding areas of some place like… Greensboro, North Carolina.

Elizabeth quickly did the math in her head and estimated that the bus would arrive there in about 4 hours. It wasn’t a long ride but she wasn’t looking for distance at the moment. She just needed a place to sleep for a few hours and regroup.

After she finished the candy bar, she dropped the wrapper back into the bag and pulled the hat lower over her eyes. The driver was in his seat and it appeared they were about to pull off. Everyone else looked as if they intended to sleep and she decided it was best to mimic them.

She slid lower in the seat and relaxed a little more as the driver introduced himself over the radio. Lizzy mostly ignore his announcement and focused on thinking through her situation.

Soon enough she felt the bus start to move and the lights on the bus dim more to be respectful of those trying to rest. Elizabeth twisted and turned the rings on her fingers trying to give her fidgety hands something to do. Four hours wasn’t as long as 14 but it was long enough to make her want to climb the walls. The trip would be faster in a car but she decided not to actively break any laws until it was necessary which ruled out stealing a car.

Elizabeth thought about the only moments of her life that she could remember before Sam came into her life. All of the memories surrounded what she could assume was her last night with her biological family. She could remember waking up to a loud noise. The noise was a newer memory…one that had come to her because of work she did with a psychiatrist prior to being approved for adoption. The caseworker suggested a few voluntary sessions for Liz and Tom. Initially she refused but he had convinced her it was a good idea. Now she wondered if he did it only to gain more information on her for his employer.

She could remember clearly, a loud noise that woke her up long before the chaos of the smoke and fire. Whatever the noise was kept the little girl glued to her bed in fear. Liz wondered if the noise was a gunshot or maybe a door cracking as someone kicked it in. There was a time when she thought that perhaps her parents died in an accidental house fire. However, Reddington’s appearance in her life had all but disproven that theory. She now knew two things: the fire was not an accident and both of her parents had not died in the blaze. The condition of her mother was still a mystery.

Since moving in with Donald, Elizabeth sometimes spent her free time arranging a timeline consisting of the known facts of her life. As she learned more about Raymond, she added more plots to her own timeline. Elizabeth knew that she was born the same year he graduated from the Naval Academy before he married his wife. However, she also knew his daughter was born a year later.

She looked up feeling a presence over her. Elizabeth stared in silent disbelief when she saw Ressler staring at her from under a baseball cap.

He asked, “Is this seat taken?”

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a hushed whisper. “How did you even find me?”

He reached into the pocket of his coat that she was still wearing and retrieved his phone. Ressler turned off the phone, removed the battery, and the SIM card. “I got help from Aram. I got the feeling this wasn’t the first time he’s done a favor for you.”

Elizabeth said, “Well, you obviously aren’t trying to stop be from running. You would have made your move before the bus took off. Why are you here?”

Donald dropped into the seat beside Lizzy and said, “You’re setting off on a adventure. I like adventures.”

Her lips twitched into a reluctant smile. “No, you do not like adventures. You like covert operations and this is hardly the same thing.”

“Okay maybe I don’t like adventures but I like you.”

Elizabeth’s eyes brightened and she laughed quietly. “Is that your version of a pickup line? If so, I understand why you’re single.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t think I needed to break out my A game since we already live together.”

She smirked and then shook her head at the absurdity of it all. Liz slowly began to look more serious. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Neither should you but here we are nonetheless. If you are going to do this…I am going to make sure you don’t get killed in the process. You taking off triggered something, Liz.”

“The bureau?”

Donald shook his head. “Cooper and the bureau are the very least of your worries right now. Aram called on the burner phone he gave me to say that Cooper called him. They aren’t sure if you were kidnapped or managed to escape an assassination attempt. There are eight dead bodies outside of that hospital. They are working on the idea that some of those bodies belong to men meant to have been protecting you. Cooper knew Reddington had a team of men stationed in a building across the street to monitor your hospital room. I thought it was just because of the threat that Tom posed but maybe it is something more.”

She rolled her eyes and said, “It is always something more with Reddington. He tells you just enough of the truth to get you to bend to his whims. I know that he’s playing us I just don’t know the reason. It has to be more than taking out his competition or rivals. He’s been in business for himself for 20 years. He knows how to take care of his own disputes without the help of the FBI that he holds in so little regard.”

Ressler said, “I think he came to the FBI to protect you from whatever is coming for him. It has to be big if an operative married you. I have friends at the agency and that’s next level asset retention even for them. You make that sort of move only if you feel it’s the only way to keep an asset for a long term operation.”

She snorted quietly and sighed. “I was an asset and my marriage was an operation. I fell in love with Tom because he was so different from the other men I dated. I guess that should have been my first clue. I’m only attracted to men that are unbalanced.”

His eyebrow rose in surprise. “I’m not sure if I should be offended because you are calling me unbalanced or offended because you are saying you’re not attracted to me.”

Lizzy buried her face in his shoulder to muffle a genuine laugh. She pulled back and said, “The first rule of running is there is no laughing. Stop it.”

Donald shrugged and smiled at her. “You still didn’t answer my question.”

“There was a question?”

He just looked at her and shook his head.

She smiled. “Yes, I’m attracted to you, Ressler. I go all weak in the knees when I see you walking around in your Spiderman pajamas.”

He smirked. “I know. I’ve caught you checking me out.”

“I hope you know I’ve caught you doing the same.”

Ressler feigned ignorance. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He relaxed when Lizzy leaned her head against his shoulder. He put an arm around her shoulder. “I forgot to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to Greensboro, North Carolina.”

He nodded and said, “I’ve never been there before.”

“Neither have I.”


	12. Fires Burn

Reddington stood in front of the fireplace in his temporary abode. He stared into the flames trying to form a plan. In the days since the accident, their relationship had been better than ever. She looked to him for the support and comfort he was very happy to provide. Part of him knew the closeness was a residual effect of the trauma but it was more than he could have ever hoped for when he first surrendered to the FBI.

His sudden appearance in her life served two different, but related, purposes. Raymond needed the FBI’s help to flush out Berlin. The mysterious entity began targeting Raymond’s business many years ago. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment because the maneuvers had been well disguised in the beginning. Setbacks in his line of work were common occurrences and were rarely cause for alarm. However, a pattern began to emerge over time and Raymond could no longer attribute the anomalies to chance.

Reddington’s second reason for surrendering to the FBI was far more altruistic, at least it was in his mind. For years, he had watched over Lizzy from afar. It was a painful arrangement but was formed with the best of intentions. His proximity to Lizzy nearly claimed her life before her 5th birthday. He resolved that night when he left her with Sam never to put her at risk again. Despite his best intentions, he failed and now she was in the wind and in more danger than she could fathom.

The message she gave Dembe was nothing short of cryptic. She alleged that she had taken a DNA test, but for the life of him, Raymond couldn’t figure out where she would have obtained the genetic material necessary for the test. Lizzy was a resourceful one but not so much so that she could get his DNA without his knowledge. The government had a sample of his DNA on file but she wouldn’t have been foolish enough to run the tests through the bureau.

Reddington dreaded this moment for decades and now it was finally here. He never wanted Lizzy to know the truth because he knew it would only bring more questions. She would want to know everything about her life before Sam and that would put her in more danger than she was already in. For now, his enemies didn’t know her true identity. He had gone to painstaking lengths to make sure of that. There wasn’t a single trace in legal documentation or otherwise that he was her father. The name she walked around with today wasn’t even the one she was given at birth. Elizabeth’s life was a well crafted but necessary lie.

Raymond was deeply worried for Elizabeth’s safety but that wasn’t his only cause for concern. She could tolerate him as the criminal psychopath with an inappropriate level of interest in her life. However, he worried that she would reject such a man as her father. Lizzy knew only a handful of his true crimes. The deeper down the rabbit hole you went the more dark and heinous his crimes became.

Dembe walked into room quietly. He hated to disturb him but it was necessary. “Raymond…”

“What do we know?”

The younger man looked at Raymond with remorse and sadness in his face. He said, “I went to Agent Ressler’s house and there was no sign of them. I don’t think either of them has been there tonight.”

Raymond turned around to look at Dembe. “Well, we can assume they are together because I talked to Harold. He is looking for Donald as we speak. In the meantime, I want you to get a message for our people. They need to start discreetly looking for Elizabeth. It is safe to assume she has already left the city. Tell them to check with bus companies in the area and look for Donald’s car. They would use a mode of transportation that doesn’t require identification.”

Dembe nodded. “Raymond…”

The older man shook his head and gave him a warm smile. He walked closer and rested his hand on the crown Dembe’s head. “This is not your fault, Dembe. It is mine. I underestimated Elizabeth’s tenacity. I should have seen this coming but I did not. You could not have prevented her flight from the hospital. She would have tried again even if you had successfully stopped her tonight.”

Dembe accepted Reddington’s kind words but still felt some guilt. The man trusted him with one of the few things in the world that he held dear and she slipped through his fingers. He was about to walk out of the door when his private phone started to ring.

“Hello?”

“Dembe, this is Aram Mojtabai. I have been trying to get in touch with Mr. Reddington. It is a matter of some urgency. It is about Agents Keen and Ressler.”

He said, “One moment please…” Dembe cuffed the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand and walked over to Reddington. “It is Aram. He says he has something to tell you about Agent Keen.”

Reddington took the phone and said, “Hello, Aram.”

“Mr. Reddington, I don’t have long to talk. Cooper will realize I’m missing soon. I don’t know where Agents Keen and Ressler have gone but I do know that they left town on a bus about two hours ago. Ressler asked me to track a phone Agent Keen was carrying but I advised him to destroy it once he found her so that the bureau wouldn’t be able to follow the same lead. I do have a way of getting in touch with Agent Ressler but I can’t track the phone.”

Raymond picked a pen and from the desk and asked, “What bus company did they use?”

“Agent Keen’s last known location was Capital Coast Charters. I did a little research and they are a local line that only services the eastern seaboard. I don’t know how useful that information will be for you.”

Reddington was pleased that Aram’s information narrowed the field so much. He said, “I need the number you have for Agent Ressler. Lizzy is in a lot of danger. I understand she’s angry at me but…”

Aram said, “I understand, Mr. Reddington. I understand somewhat of the danger she is in. We found a dead nurse at the hospital. We think someone hoping to get close to Agent Keen killed her. The dead nurse’s credentials were missing and her neck was snapped. I gave Agent Ressler a burner phone. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you not to use a phone you think is being monitored. I’ll text you the number. I have to go.”

Raymond handed the piece of paper to Dembe. “I need you to go to this bus station and investigate. I need to know what bus Lizzy and Donald are on and where it is headed. They got on the bus about two hours ago. Double check all the departure times that fit in that timeframe with 45 minutes lag time on either end. Donald located Lizzy after she was already at the bus station so it is safe to assume you are looking for a woman that purchased a single bus ticket and is believed to be traveling alone.”

Dembe nodded, “I’m on it, Raymond.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry this chapter was a little later than normal.


	13. The Calm

The ride from Washington, D.C. to Greensboro, North Carolina was uneventful. However, Donald and Elizabeth were vigilant the entire time. They stayed awake despite the siren call to sleep. The agents discreetly noted each new passenger and ensured they were uninterested in her. It was a long shot for someone to track their specific bus down mid-route but they could not take any chances. Reddington’s enemies likely had resources rivaling his own. They learned over the last few months that his resources were varied and plentiful and should not be underestimated.

He had long since turned off the phone Aram gave him. Reddington called back-to-back for nearly an hour. Elizabeth rejected the idea of speaking with the man just yet. Ressler was in agreement but for a different set of reasons. He was hoping Cooper and the bureau would dredge up some much needed information on the men killed outside of the hospital. Donald was eager to know more about the person targeting Elizabeth.

After arriving in Greensboro, they quickly settled on the nearby bedroom community of Rolling Hills. It was large enough for them to get lost in the crowd but it was hardly a travel hub. They easily found an extended stay hotel to check into for a few days. They needed to regroup and come up with some sort of plan. Right now, they were flying by the seat of their pants and that couldn’t be sustained. They were also still painfully close to Washington and would need to move further west in a few days. Once they settled in Don left to get supplies and Lizzy took a much-needed shower.

About 30 minutes later, Elizabeth walked out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. She was wearing a pair of the pajamas Mr. Kaplan bought her. She yawned tiredly as she padded over to the queen-sized bed. Her body ached from the car crash and the inadvisable decision to jump out of a window. In hindsight, she could have found a gentler way to accomplish her goals. However, risky behavior was sort of par for the course for Elizabeth. She never feared danger or death. She sometimes theorized her apathy about death stemmed from her earliest childhood memory.

She often dreamed she died in that fire and that everything that followed was just the machinations of her mind as she floated through purgatory. It was a bleak outlook but it didn’t stop her from thinking about it. Elizabeth had spent her entire life waiting to die. There was always a darkness inside of her that she didn’t quite understand. However, she could understand it a little more now that she knew the identity of her father.

From the moment he came out of that box to save her life, Elizabeth knew the truth about their relationship. She didn’t have proof but she knew the truth. A man didn’t sacrifice his life for a woman he wanted to bed. His denial aside Elizabeth knew he was her father and from that moment forward, she tried to piece their pasts together in some sort of understandable timeline. However, she was beginning to think the things she believed to be facts about her life were just fabrications designed by Reddington to hide her in plain sight.

Elizabeth sat on the bed and curled a leg underneath her. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she stared at the room’s telephone. It would be so easy to reach out to Reddington now. He would know that she was serious about getting answers from him. On the other hand, reaching out to Reddington would put a target on her back.

His enemies wanted her for leverage against him. If it was just about killing her that could have been done with a well-placed sniper’s bullet while she convalesced in the hospital. They sprang into action when she left the hospital because they meant to take her alive. Being held captive scared her much more than death. She knew the perils of being under someone else’s thumb. The entire situation was one big disaster but her biggest regret was involving Ressler.

She knew her career with the bureau was over the moment the DNA test confirmed her suspicions. There was no way the bureau allowed the daughter of Raymond Reddington to continue working for them. Her life as she knew it was over.

As if on cue, Donald walked into the room carrying a couple bags of supplies they would need for a few days. He closed the door behind him and said, “I picked up everything that was on the list. The store was pretty much deserted this time of morning.”

Lizzy walked over and took a few bags from him. “It looks like you added some stuff to the list. I should have gone with you so that you wouldn’t have had to carry all of this on your own.”

He chuckled. “It wasn’t that bad. I just wanted to be sure that we wouldn’t need to leave the room again. It is better to stay out of sight while we are here. We are still uncomfortably close to D.C. for my liking.” Donald searched for the bag with medical supplies and set it on the bed. He would need to look at Elizabeth’s injuries soon. “Shopping gave me some time to think.”

“Oh?”

“Reddington has been calling the phone Aram gave me. I haven’t answered his calls but it might not be a bad thing to reach out to him, Liz. It would be good to know what we are up against now. It was one thing when you were just trying to force Reddington’s hand but the game has changed significantly.”

Elizabeth put the perishable food items in the mini fridge. “It is funny that you brought that up because I was thinking the same thing. He knows I’m serious about knowing the truth now but there are too many unknown forces to prolong this.” She sighed softly and turned to look at Ressler. “He knew I was in danger but didn’t tell me. He could have gotten me killed last night, Don.”

Ressler sat at the foot of the bed and scrubbed a tired hand over his face. He watched as Lizzy made quick work of putting away their supplies. “Well, you have a point. Are you going to call him?”

She nodded. “I am but first I am going to get some sleep. I am exhausted and I have to be rested if I am going to even attempt this conversation with Reddington. He can stew for a little longer.”

“I can’t argue you with you there. I feel dead on my feet right about now. The only thing I want to do is get a few hours kip.” Ressler kicked off his shoes and took off his jacket. He tossed a pillow onto the floor and moved to stand up.

Elizabeth’s eyebrow rose in confusion. “What are you doing?”

Donald tilted his head to look at her. “I am getting ready to get some sleep. I think we both deserve a little rest. Was there something else I needed to do first?”

She rolled her eyes and picked up the pillow. “You are not sleeping on the floor, Don. We are not teenagers afraid of brushing up against one another in the middle of the night. It’s a queen-sized bed and we can make do.”

He said, “Before you left the hospital we…”

Elizabeth laughed softly. “I never took you for being timid. Before I left the hospital we kissed and it was a pretty good kiss.”

Donald asked, “It was only pretty good?”

Her eyes sparkled mischievously. “Well, it was a fairly short kiss. I’d be willing to reevaluate my opinion in the future.” Elizabeth sat beside him on the bed. “I know we haven’t talked about what…this is but let’s not make it weirder by you sleeping on the floor like some kind of martyr.”

He shook his head but smiled at her. “Well, I am going to go get a shower so that I can get some sleep. After you talk to Reddington we’ll figure out our next move.”

Donald stood up and grabbed his bag from the floor. He was glad that as an agent, he always kept a go bag in the trunk of his car or he would be naked. Although, being naked might be interesting considering the attractiveness of his roommate.

Elizabeth smirked as she watched Don walk into the bathroom. She walked over to the window and closed drapes to darken the room. It was still morning and the sun was too bright even filtering through the blinds. Elizabeth turned off the lights and then moved the medical supplies off the bed. They could tend to her injuries later.

Afterward she pulled back the blankets and slipped into the warm bed. The exhaustion that threatened to overtake her for hours was finally starting to win. She thought about Raymond as the steady sound of the shower lulled her to sleep. She muttered, “Orphan no more.”

When Ressler emerged from the bathroom, he saw that Elizabeth was fast asleep. He smiled as he thought about how peaceful she looked. He knew there would be some fallout for his decision to follow Lizzy, but in his estimation, it was worth it.

He ran a hand over his wet hair and looked at the empty space in the bed skeptically. Elizabeth was right that sleeping on the floor wasn’t an option. His body still ached from the car crash and his muscles throbbed from lack of rest. He had been pushing himself non-stop since the accident and it was finally taking a toll. If he was going to be of any use to Elizabeth he would need to be rested and not hobbled.

Don slipped under the blanket and finally allowed himself to relax. This would be his first time sleeping in a bed since he was released from the hospital after the crash. Every night since then he spent sitting at Elizabeth’s bedside. She could be frustrating and incredibly deceptive. He knew now there were more secrets to Elizabeth Keen and he wondered if he would ever know the truth about her.

He smiled smugly at the realization that he had been right all along about not trusting her. His gut told him that something just didn’t fit with her but he couldn’t figure out what. She played the ingénue well but over time, he had learned that it was only a mask. Letting Lizzy move in was the best decision he’d ever made for more than one reason. She was the first woman to pique his interest since Audrey ended their engagement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for this chapter being so late. I went out of town and didn't get a chance to update. The next chapter will be posted Friday night.


	14. Brewing

Donald woke up sometime later with her his nose buried in Elizabeth’s hair. The arm slung over her waist held her flush against his body protectively. It took a few minutes for the haze of sleep to recede. However, once it did his first instinct was to pull away quickly. He was certain he had fallen asleep on the other side of the bed.

He couldn’t be sure when he’d migrated to her side of the bed but it would be awkward if she woke up with his erection pressed against her backside. Sleeping on the floor suddenly seemed like a less painful option. They were both adults but he didn’t want Lizzy to think he was taking any liberties with their new sleeping arrangement.

He slowly tried to extricate his limbs from Elizabeth’s body but soon learned that he had nowhere to go except to get out of the bed. He was still on his side. It wasn’t him that moved while they slept. He smiled smugly realizing Elizabeth had sought him out in her sleep. The smile faded somewhat when he remembered how awkward things would become if she woke up with him pressed against her back. He silently chastised his body for behaving like a horny teenager.

However, in his defense he hadn’t had sex since a few months before the siege at the Post Office. Anyone might lose their self-control after being celibate for so long. Immediately following the accident, he didn’t have sex with anyone because he was in recovery. However, the longer he and Liz lived together the less he was interested in other women.

Ressler carefully slipped out of the bed and decided a cold shower was in order. He needed to think clearly and could not do that in his current state.

As Donald rounded the bed Elizabeth said, “Come back to bed. It’s cold and you’re a really good source of heat.”

He stopped walking when he heard her voice. He turned to look at her in the darkness. He was just able to make out her shape. “You’re awake.”

She slowly sat up and ran a hand over her new pixie cut. Elizabeth turned on the lamp so that she could see him better. She shrugged. “I guess I’ve been awake for ten minutes…maybe longer. I didn’t exactly look at the clock.”

“If this is weird I can just sleep on the floor. It wouldn’t be the worst place I’ve slept. Trust me.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him. “I’d like for you to stop being so incredibly chivalrous and come here.” She added belatedly, “Please.”

He sat beside her on the bed. “I’m not being chivalrous. I’ve been anything but…”

She laughed softly. “Yes, you are and it is incredibly cute but I’m not really in the mood for cute.”

He smirked. “Just what are you in the mood for?”

She grabbed his hand and encouraged him to move closer to her. She stared into his eyes for a second before she moved in for a scorching kiss. In that moment, it was as if all the barriers had been broken as they devoured one another. It was a passionate clash of lips, tongues and occasionally teeth but neither party seemed to mind.

Ressler’s hands slid beneath the thin material of the pajama top Lizzy’s was wearing and quickly found his target.

Elizabeth let out a breathy moan at the unexpected contact and arched up against his touch. “Don…”

Her moan was like music to his ears. He pulled her shirt off and kissed a trail down her neck.

Elizabeth laid back and pulled Ressler along with her.

Donald spread her legs and settled between them on his knees so he didn’t have to worry about putting pressure on her body. Elizabeth’s ribs were still injured and wouldn’t appreciate his extra body weight. Ressler’s burner phone started buzzing. He groaned softly and rested his forehead against hers. “It could be important.”

She said, “Just answer it so we can get back to this.”

Donald leaned over her body and grabbed his phone. He answered the call and put it on speakerphone. “Hello?”

“Donald, I’m so glad you finally decided to answer the phone. Can I assume that Agent Keen is with you?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m here. Did Dembe give you my message?”

He said, “Yes, he did. Although I have to say I’m very curious about how you managed to procure a sample of my DNA.”

She chuckled softly and pressed a silent kiss against Don’s collarbone.

Ressler asked, “Do you remember the night I punched you?”

The line went silent for a moment and then Reddington laughed wryly. “Well played, Agent Ressler. Lizzy, I would like to see you in person to give you the answers that you seek. As much as I love a good chase, I don’t have the time to do it now. Things are changing faster than I anticipated. A man that is very motivated by his hatred of me is hunting you. You don’t want to think about the things he will do to you if he manages to get to you before I do.”

Ressler’s eyebrows furrowed in concern because he could hear the fear in Reddington’s voice. He hadn’t heard anything akin to that since the day of the attack at the Post Office.

“I need real answers from you, Red. I don’t want lies or half-truths. I need to know who I really am. You are the only person that can give me those answers. I think I deserve the truth from you. I’ll tell where I am but I want a show of good faith first.”

He asked, “What do you want to know, Lizzy?”

“I want to hear you say that you are my father. I need to hear that from you. Please…”

Reddington exhaled deeply and said, “You had the DNA test run. You know that I am your father. I know you’re angry at me but everything I have done has been to keep you safe. You nearly died as a child because of me. I couldn’t allow that to happen a second time. You and your half-sister mean everything to me, Lizzy. I will do anything in my power to keep you both safe from harm. The only way I can do that now is to put you in hiding because the wolves have your scent and they’re coming for both of you. My enemy will rip you apart to destroy me.”


	15. Double Blue

Silence filled the room once the call ended. Neither of them knew what to say. They both knew that Reddington was Elizabeth’s father but there was some sort of finality hearing the man utter the words himself. The revelation didn’t change anything and yet it felt like it had changed everything.

Elizabeth huffed out an audible breath and stared up at the ceiling. A million thoughts raced through her head so quickly that she couldn’t latch onto even one of them. This was too much to take in but there wouldn’t be time to adjust. Tomorrow morning she would have to face Raymond as her father. She would finally get the answers she wanted for so long but Elizabeth knew there was a chance that she wouldn’t like what she found.

“I won’t be upset if you decide to go back home, Don. You didn’t sign up for this.”

Ressler was lying on his side with his head propped up on his arm. He had silently watched a range of emotion pass over Elizabeth’s face. However, he had the good sense to be silent until she found words. He said, “Nothing has changed for me. When I tracked you down on that bus, I knew that Reddington was your father. I also knew his enemies were looking for you. I made the decision to come with you. I want to keep you safe.”

She chanced a glance in his direction and immediately wished that she hadn’t. His expression was open and sincere. Ressler genuinely cared for her and that was an incredibly dangerous prospect. There was every chance in the world that her connection to Reddington would get her killed. She didn’t relish the idea of him being in the crossfire. “Don…”

He ignored her weak protest and pulled her into his arms. He pressed a kiss to her lips and then smiled. “You can have your meltdown where you insist that I should go home and leave you to whatever fate awaits you. After you’re done with that we can explore more interesting topics.”

Elizabeth couldn’t fight the smile that was threatening to appear. “You are incredibly stubborn.”

Donald nipped her collarbone as his hand slipped beneath the waistband of her pajama bottoms. His fingers explored her as best as they could in the confined space. He murmured, “Pot meet kettle.”

She choked back a moan and tried to focus. However, it was a battle she was rapidly losing as a finger slipped inside of her. “I don’t want anything to happen to you because of the soap opera that is my life, Don. You pursued Red before he started working with the taskforce. You have to know what his enemies are capable of doing. I don’t want you getting caught in the crossfire. You’ve already had a close call.”

Elizabeth didn’t like thinking about the siege on the Post Office. Donald was just her colleague at the time but now he was so much more. Sometimes she had nightmares where he doesn’t survive the box. It’s not something she’d ever tell him about because she knows he has nightmares of his own.

He groaned in displeasure. He couldn’t believe she was still attempting to have this conversation despite his other activities.  Donald stilled his movements and said, “I’ve had more than my share of close calls over the years. It comes with the job. You’re not going to be able to convince me to go back home. I have already made up my mind. I made up my mind when I asked Aram to track you down.” He pulled Elizabeth on top of him and slipped a second finger inside of her. “Now can we pick up where we left off before we were interrupted?”

She gasped quietly. “One-track mind.”

He found a spot on her neck to kiss and nibble at. ‘In my defense I have been restraining myself for weeks. Do you know how hard it was to stay in control the night you kissed me?”

She stifled a small moan. “As hard as it was for me not to stare when did shirtless pull-ups.”

“I knew you were watching. You weren’t as good at hiding behind your books as you thought you were.” He smirked at the red blemish on her neck and moved to another space to mark. Don slipped his hand out of her pajama bottoms to help pull them off her.

Elizabeth laughed quietly and sat up so that she was straddling Donald. She winced in pain as she raised her arms over her head to pull off her top.

Donald’s eyes followed her every movement. He smoothed his hands up her sides and stopped at her breasts. He breathed, “Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.”

Elizabeth moaned in pleasure as Donald’s hand and lips descended on her breasts. In the back of her mind, she silently cursed herself for not pursuing this sooner. She gasped feeling his teeth graze her. She rocked against Don feeling him harden beneath her.

Her eyebrows furrowed as something occurred to her. “This seems like an inopportune time to ask…”

He stilled his exploring hands so that he could give Liz his full attention. He asked, “What do you want to ask?”

“You didn’t happen to pick up condoms while you were out picking up supplies, did you?”

Donald groaned in disappointment and allowed his head to drop down against the pillows. “No, I didn’t think to pick up condoms. I didn’t think this would happen.”

She gave him a questioning look.

“I didn’t think this would happen tonight,” he corrected.

Elizabeth laughed softly and said, “Oh…”

Don caressed her thigh lovingly. “I can go out and see if any of the stores are still open.”

She glanced at the clock and shook her head. “I wouldn’t bet on it. We slept pretty late. Not that we should be surprised. Neither of us has had proper sleep lately. I have a proposal…”

He groaned and said, “I hope it doesn’t involve not having sex. I don’t really know how okay I can be with that at the moment.”

“No, I wasn’t going to suggest that. You’re not the only one teetering on the edge of sanity because of celibacy.” She cleared her throat as she searched for the right words. “I got tested for sexually transmitted diseases after I left Tom. I figured if I was just a job then maybe…he wasn’t being faithful. Anyway, my tests all came back negative. I haven’t been with anyone since then.”

Donald stared at Liz in surprise for a moment. He definitely wasn’t expecting that from her. Moreover, he was more than a little turned on by the fact that she had been just as sexually frustrated as he had been. However, he quickly regained his composure. “The bureau made me get a physical before they allowed me back in the field. I got a clean bill of health. I haven’t been with anyone either…”

She smiled at him and ran a hand over his bare chest. “I know. You come home to me every night and I’m with you during the day. You don’t exactly have the time to sneak off for romantic liaisons.”

Donald ignored the swell in his chest when Liz said that he came home to her every night. He had tried so hard to stop himself from thinking of it like that but it was the truth. He came home to her every night because that’s where he wanted to be. “Are you sure about this?”

“If you don’t want to…we can always wait, Don. I get it. I won’t be upset or offended. I know this is a monumentally bad idea but I want you and I don’t want to wait for you to find the one store still open that sells condoms. After tonight we’ll be with Red and that is a level of uncomfortable I don’t think any of us could bear.”

He groaned and said, “No, you’re right. It is a now or much later type of situation. I am onboard if you are. I just wanted to be certain that this is what you wanted. I don’t want you to regret…”

She smiled looking into his eyes. “There’s that chivalry again. It’s cute.”

Donald briefly wondered about the type of men Liz dated in the past if she thought this was chivalrous. He thought it was only common courtesy. He smiled at her and unceremoniously flipped them over so he was on top. Donald stripped off his jogging pants tossing them on the floor. He leaned down and kissed her passionately. Afterward he said, “I just want to be sure. This is one of those things you can’t really take back.”

“I won’t want to take it back. I promise.”

He buried his face against the side of her neck as he thrust into her. He was grateful that Liz’s skin muffled the desperate noise that escaped from his lips.


	16. The Storm

Raymond sat in the back of a town car with Mr. Kaplan. He stared wordlessly out of the window with his fists clenched at his side. He was furious at Elizabeth for putting her life at risk with her childish game. His enemies didn’t know her identity but they did know she was of some importance to him. For a man with few soft targets this knowledge was an incredible boon.

Over the years, he made many sacrifices to keep her safe. The biggest was abandoning her as a child. He did not make those painstaking sacrifices in vain. He would do anything to keep her safe even if he believed she was just having a tantrum.

However, it wasn’t just Elizabeth’s life at risk. He had received credible information from the men he’d killed a few days ago. Apparently, the organizer of their little crew had a second target: his ex-wife, Naomi. If they could get to Naomi, it would not be difficult to apprehend Jennifer. His ex-wife was a strong woman but she would not be able to withstand torture to protect their daughter’s whereabouts.

For the last few days, Raymond had his assets working almost non-stop to find Naomi and Jennifer’s location. Witness protection wasn’t an easy nut to crack but it also wasn’t as impenetrable as people liked to believe. His assets found addresses for Naomi and Jennifer today.

He hadn’t seen Jennifer since she was a little girl. He didn’t know anything about her because he had been unable to look in on her life the way he had with Elizabeth. Red received updates from Sam in the form of phone calls from time to time. He even watched from the shadows on the day Elizabeth graduated high school. Seeing her thriving made him feel as if his sacrifices were worth the pain.

Raymond now found himself split in half. There was part of him that wanted to go to Naomi immediately to protect her and Jennifer. However, he also couldn’t leave Lizzy out in the open where she could be killed or worse. If he was right about the identity of the man targeting him… instant death would be a small mercy. Ultimately, Reddington chose the situation with which he would have the highest amount of success. He would go to Elizabeth and try to get her to accept his protection while Mr. Kaplan made the same pitch to Naomi and Jennifer.

Mr. Kaplan reached over and squeezed his hand. “I will bring Naomi and Jennifer in safely by any means necessary. I will use the three B’s: badgering, bribery, or bags over their heads. It won’t win me any friends but your family will be safe. You have my word, Raymond. I will not let you down.”

He nodded. He trusted Mr. Kaplan to take care of his family while he was otherwise occupied. The woman was the most efficient person he had ever met in his life. He had first met her while they both served in the military. She was one of the only people from that life that believed that he wasn’t the treasonous bastard Fitch and his people painted him as.

When he approached her decades ago to join him, she had agreed with little consideration. Mr. Kaplan and Dembe were the only people he let get close to him for years. He held everyone else at arms’ length and used them as tools to meet his goals.

“Thank you.” Raymond was quiet for a moment before he asked, “You don’t approve of the way I’ve handled this situation with Lizzy?”

She rarely made judgment calls about the things her boss did. It was neither her place nor in her best interest to make such assessments. However, she was always honest with him when he asked or if it was sorely needed. “I understand your reasoning behind keeping your identity a secret. You were worried that if the information reached the wrong parties Elizabeth would become a target. However, I think we both know your reluctance to tell her the truth was more out selfishness than any protective instinct. You’re worried that she will reject you as Naomi and Jennifer have done.”

Raymond laughed dryly. Mr. Kaplan could always see through his ruses. She knew him better than anyone else because she had the distinct privilege of knowing both versions of him. “Why would she not? She knows the kind of man that I am even more than they do. She has seen firsthand what I am capable of doing to my enemies. Lizzy has witnessed me taking lives in her name or just because that is what I chose to do. No one wants a murderer as their father. No one.”

“I think you give Elizabeth too little credit. Her ideas of right and wrong are not as black and white as she likes to pretend that they are. She understands the drive to protect someone by any means necessary. When Anslo Garrick kidnapped you…she allowed our people to do what needed to be done and I didn’t see a hint of remorse or reticence. She is your blood and Sam raised her. How could she be any different? Besides, you are forgetting one thing.”

“What am I forgetting?” asked Red.

She smiled mischievously. “She’s the one that sought out your connection to her. On some level she wants a relationship with you or she wouldn’t have bothered with stealing your DNA to run a paternity test. She would have been grateful for not knowing the truth even if she suspected it.”

He exhaled deeply as he mulled over her words.

She paused and then continued, “In any case, if she intended to shun you I hardly think she would have gone to all of this trouble to blackmail you into telling the truth. Finding out you are her father brings more problems than solutions.”

He smiled at Mr. Kaplan before looking out the window again. “I assumed coming into her life at this age meant I would miss out on the rebellious phase. She essentially ran away from home like a disgruntled teenager with her boyfriend.”

Mr. Kaplan laughed. “Oh, Raymond you know absolutely nothing about girls. The wild ones never truly grow out of the rebellious phase. Just chalk it up to her desire for making grand gestures like her father. You do so love the theatrics at times.”

Raymond kissed her hand and asked, “What would I do without you, my dear?”

“I suppose you would spend in an inordinate amount of time disposing of dead bodies,” Mr. Kaplan teased gently.

He smiled at her as the car slowed to a stop beside another vehicle. “Well, we certainly can’t have that.”

She said, “No. We can’t have that at all. Well, this is my stop. I will expect to see you in Vermont in no less than 24 hours, Raymond. Have a safe trip.”

“I will see you then, Katherine.”

Dembe opened the door and she quickly exited the car.

Mr. Kaplan spared Raymond one last glance before climbing into the second car. She was concerned about him. She could see the cracks in his façade even if no one else could. Mr. Kaplan squeezed Dembe’s arm. “If he…”

He nodded in understanding. “I will call before it goes that far.”

She smiled fondly at Dembe. “I’ll see you soon, Demebe.”

Dembe returned to the driver’s seat. “To the airport?”

“Yes, and please turn the music on.” Raymond needed something to fill the silence that would surely fill the car in Mr. Kaplan’s absence. He wasn’t looking forward to the fury he was sure to receive from Elizabeth.

He closed his eyes as the velvety voice of Nina Simone started to serenade him with _Wild is the Wind_. When he next laid eyes on Elizabeth, it would be as her father and that would change everything.


	17. Three Words

Donald would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about this moment more than once. In fact, ‘thought’ might not be the right word. He fantasized about feeling Elizabeth’s body molded against his, but this was better than any fantasy his mind could have ever conjured up. She was absolutely beautiful and so incredibly vulnerable in this moment. There were so many secrets she kept from him and everyone else, but for this moment in time she was laid bare to him and it was a remarkable sight.  

Her skin glistened with a thin sheen of sweat. He could see that the passion marks he’d left earlier were darker now. The redden marks stood out in contrast against her pale skin.

He winced as she dragged her nails down his back hard enough to leave marks but he couldn’t find the energy to care. Donald’s brain was focused on the warm tightness threatening to make him lose control far too soon. The strangled moans coming from Elizabeth weren’t doing much for his self-control either. He had spent weeks wondering what her moans sounded like.

“I need you,” she whispered against his lips, as she wrapped her legs around him.

“I’m right here,” he murmured in response, driving deeper inside of her in hopes that he could wring out another high-pitched moan from those perfect lips.

Elizabeth bit into her bottom lip as she moaned in pleasure. She said, “No, I don’t mean just like this. I mean…”

Donald stopped moving briefly to rest his forehead against hers. In a gravelly voice, he said, “I didn’t mean just the sex or just this moment. You have me. You have all of me for as long as you want it.”

It took a moment for Don’s words to register in Elizabeth’s mind. However, when they did she pressed an urgent kiss against his lips. Elizabeth hadn’t been intimate with anyone since she started dating Tom years ago. There was a time when she believed he would be the last man ever to touch her this way. However, there wasn’t the stinging feeling of guilt she was afraid of when she first began to think of Donald this way. This felt right and she knew it.

She blurted out, “I love you…”

He blinked in surprise but didn’t get to respond because a moment later Elizabeth’s lips were on his again. The desperation in her kiss filled him with an overwhelming need to claim her as own with actions if she wouldn’t let him speak the words right now.

His hips crashed into hers and he kissed a trail down her jaw to her neck. He kissed and sucked at the delicate skin there intending to leave his mark.

Elizabeth let out a pleased noise at the sudden change of tempo. Her vision swam, as she got closer to the edge.  “Don…”

Sooner than either of them would have liked they both found their release. Donald rested his forehead against Elizabeth’s as his heart rate slowly went back to normal.

Don moved off Elizabeth as soon as he felt certain he wouldn’t collapse on top of her. He pulled her into his arms and took a deep breath. His body still ached from the car accident. In hindsight, physical exertion of this sort probably was the best idea but he certainly didn’t regret it.  

“We should have done that a lot sooner,” Elizabeth said, she sighed happily.

He chuckled and caressed her arm. Don said, “I was just thinking the same thing, but this was right.”

She nodded in agreement. “Yeah it was.” Elizabeth was snuggling into Don’s embrace when her eyes shot open in a panic. As the haze started to clear, she vividly remembered telling Don that she loved him. She cleared her throat. “Uh, I think I am going to go get a shower.”

Donald opened one eye to look at her skeptically. “You want to go get a shower now? Right now?”

Elizabeth said, “Sure. Why not? I mean hygiene and all.”

Now he knew she was being strange. He had watched her workout for an hour at the gym and come home to flop unto the couch without so much as a glance in the direction of a shower. Donald slowly sat up in the bed. “What’s going on? It can’t be that you aren’t a cuddler because we both know that isn’t true.”

She flashed a disarming smile. “Nothing is wrong. Why would you ask me that?”

“Well, because you are acting like something is wrong.” He scrubbed a tired hand over his face. “Are you regretting this already?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened and then she quickly shook her head. She sat up and kissed him. “No! Of course, I’m not regretting it. I told you that I wouldn’t regret it. I’m just worried that maybe I screwed it all up because of what I said in the heat of the moment…”

Now her odd behavior was beginning to make a little more sense to him. He uttered a quiet, “Oh…”

Elizabeth felt her heart drop a little. ‘Oh’ was not the reaction that she was hoping for but she couldn’t exactly fault him for not returning the sentiment. They were colleagues, friends, and roommates. However, the romantic portion of their relationship was very new. It was far too new for her to have said those three words even if she did mean them. Moreover, it probably wasn’t the right idea to say them during sex.

She shrugged her shoulders in attempt to seem blasé about the whole thing. “Just forget that I said it. It was a slip of the tongue. That’s all.” Elizabeth went to get out of the bed but Don’s iron grip on her arm stopped her escape plan.

He asked, “You aren’t going to jump out another window, are you?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and said, “The situation with Red is different and you know it. He always lies to me. I can never get a straight answer out of him.”

Don nodded. “It might be true but you have a habit of not addressing the large pink elephant in the room.”

He was smart enough not to mention Tom by name even if their post-coital bliss had already been ruined. Reminding Liz of her ex-husband wasn’t a good idea.

She laughed a little and then shook her head. “No, I don’t have any plans to jump out of the bathroom window. You can trust me.”

Donald said, “I don’t know that I believe you. I think I will have to follow you in there to be certain.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You’re just trying to find a way to finagle your way into taking a shower with me.”

He smirked. “I wasn’t aware that I would have to work that hard.” His face turned serious. “As good as a shower sounds right now…I’d rather talk about what you said.”

Elizabeth shook her head and said, “We don’t have to talk about anything. Not really.”

Donald shook his head at her ridiculous stubbornness as he watched her walk toward the bathroom. “I love you, too.”

Elizabeth stopped and looked over her shoulder. “What?”

He said, “I love you, too. I would have said it to you earlier but you cut me off on purpose. You were so afraid I wouldn’t return the sentiment that you never gave me the chance to…”

She slowly approached the bed. “Do you really mean it?”

Don stood up and said, “I know you are gun shy because of your last relationship but I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it. You have become a very important part of my life, Liz. When I was recovering…your presence some days is what kept me going. You helped me focus on something other than the unending pain. Why do you think I never brought up the fact that you were only supposed to be staying with me for a few weeks? I didn’t want you to go but I didn’t know how to say it. I was just glad that you never brought it up either. You said earlier that you knew I wasn’t seeing anyone because I came home to you every night…well I like that feeling. I like coming home to you.”

Elizabeth shook her head in exasperation. “We are ridiculous.”

“Yeah…we are that.”

She laughed softly and kissed him. “Maybe next time I should just let you talk.”

“Not that I didn’t love the kiss but yes…it would be nice if you just let me talk. Does this mean I get to join you in the shower?”

Elizabeth slipped out of his arms and sauntered toward the bathroom. “If you aren’t in here soon…I’ll start without you.”


	18. Sunrise

Mr. Vargas picked the lock on the backdoor of the Hyland family’s home. It was child’s play really. He never understood why people were so lax about security. There weren’t many standard residential locks that were truly tamper proof. Briefly, he wondered why WITSEC hadn’t sprung for better security. However, that thought slipped away as he felt the final pin shift as the lock opened.

He put away his lock pick set and removed the gun from his waistband. He hated what the weapon did to the lines of his bespoke suit. The unsightly bulge the gun made ruined the hard work of his long-suffering tailor Francois.

Mr. Vargas slowly entered the darkened home. The sun wouldn’t rise for another 30 minutes. Unfortunately, they were later than expected. An unexpected turn of events forced them to make a detour to Chicago of all places. The worst part of being at war was the traitors. Mr. Vargas really had no stomach for them.

Last night, Reddington received credible information that one of his own people helped orchestrate the assassination attempt on Agent Keen. He wanted that person dispatched promptly. Therefore, Mr. Vargas and Mr. Kaplan had flown right over Philadelphia on their way to Chicago. Once that nasty business concluded they got back onto the plane and flew to Philadelphia.  

Mr. Kaplan walked into the house behind Mr. Vargas and silently closed the door. She turned on the lights in the kitchen and surveyed the decor. The home screamed suburban complacency. It hardly matched the personality she knew of the former Mrs. Redddington. Mr. Kaplan walked over to the counter and started the coffee pot.

The man looked at her curiously.

“What? If I were going to be woken up by armed intruders, I’d like to do it with a hot cup of coffee. Also, I need a cup so that I am less likely to sedate them both and toss them in the back of the car. I am a better negotiator with caffeine thrumming through my veins.”

He chuckled quietly in response to Mr. Kaplan’s quip. He set an electronic device on the counter and pushed a button. Mr. Vargas took out his cell phone and smiled. “Cell service in the house is down as well as the Wi-Fi. I disabled the landline while you were on the phone with Reddington. There is no way of calling for help.”

She nodded approvingly. “Let’s get set up in the living room. I want to make the pitch quickly. We really don’t have the time to cajole them into doing what Raymond wants. I won’t spend more than twenty minutes doing this the nice way.”

Mr. Vargas nodded and carried a black duffle bag into the living room.

Mr. Kaplan had been awake for the last 24 hours and she had less patience than she normally did. Moreover, she was disconcerted by the recent turn of events. The traitor in their organization was someone that had years of service. She trusted him -- as much as she trusted anyone that wasn’t Raymond. She was worried now that Connelly was just the tip of the iceberg. If Berlin was able to turn him then there were others. 

After leaving Chicago, Mr. Kaplan convinced Raymond to compartmentalize their movements going forward. They would not rendezvous in Vermont as previously planned. It was too likely that they would be walking into a trap. Instead, they would head to a safe house in Montana.

She filled a carafe with coffee and located the sugar and cream. Mr. Kaplan put everything on a tray and carried it into the living room. She placed the tray on the table and returned to the kitchen to retrieve the box of muffins she picked up from a local bakery.

Mr. Kaplan placed the box on the coffee table and then had a seat in an armchair. She glanced at her watch and waited for Mr. Vargas to corral their guests of honor.

A few minutes later Naomi Hyland and Frank Hyland walked downstairs with Mr. Vargas bringing up the rear.

She flashed a mirthful smile when she saw that Frank’s hands were zip tied in front of him and there was a strip of tape over his mouth. Mr. Kaplan shot a questioning look at Mr. Vargas.

“Some people were less than cooperative,” he explained.

Mr. Kaplan nodded and stood up as they approached. “Please…have a seat. There is much to discuss and very little time to do it.”

Frank and Naomi sat down on their couch looking terrified.

Mr. Kaplan asked, “Would either of you like coffee? We brought muffins as well.”

Silence filled the room.

Mr. Vargas chuckled. “Well, they are a tough crowd.” He walked over to the coffee table and eyed the muffin selection with a scowl. “We should have picked up scones as well. I guess I will just have to settle for a blueberry muffin.”

Naomi asked, “Who are you?”

Mr. Kaplan sat down and picked up her cup of coffee. She took a sip and said, “My name is Mr. Kaplan. I work for your ex-husband.”

“How do I know that? You could be anyone.”

“You are right. I could be anyone. Raymond said that I should tell you that he misses his little songbird.”

Naomi stared at Mr. Kaplan but started to relax marginally. “I’m not telling him where Jennifer is living. I don’t care how much he misses her. She has absolutely no interest in seeing him ever again and I don’t blame her.”

“Naomi, I am certain you know well enough the nature of your ex-husband’s business and the enemies he surely makes in the process. You are both in danger. As you can surmise from our presence WITSEC’s database is hardly impenetrable. If we found you this easily…I can assure you that Mr. Reddington’s enemies have already done so. He has dispatched us here to secure the two of you and his daughter. We will move the three of you to a secure location where you will be protected by extremely well-trained men until this is over.”

Frank looked at Naomi with widened eyes.

Mr. Kaplan tutted and said, “Well, it looks as though someone hasn’t been completely honest but that really isn’t my concern. In fact, your husband is not my concern at all. He can choose to come along or he can stay behind. However, I would like to impress upon you the seriousness of this situation. If Raymond’s enemy captures you…death would be the kindest thing he would do to you.” She took a sip of her coffee and added, “It is also the least likely thing he would do to you. Oh, I’m sure that he will kill you eventually but there will be a lot of suffering beforehand. It could last days…even weeks if done properly. Although, I suppose the shock might kill you prematurely but you really wouldn’t want to leave that sort of thing to chance.”

Naomi’s eyes went glassy. This wasn’t how she wanted to tell her husband about Raymond. If she was strictly honest, she never intended to tell him about her ex-husband at all. It was a painful and very complicated story to tell. In fact, some portions of the story were classified and she wasn’t allowed to relay them to her own daughter.

“You can’t just come in here and disrupt my life. I haven’t seen Raymond in over 20 years and I would like to keep it that way. Jennifer and I don’t want anything to do with him.” Naomi ground out, “I hate him. He destroyed my life! Our daughter has never recovered and it is his fault.”

Mr. Kaplan said, “You can hate him as much as you want but the fact remains that you are his ex-wife and the mother of his daughter. You are a soft target for his enemy to exploit. No matter the vigor of your self-righteous anger, I doubt it will provide comfort, as you are tortured for days on end. This man will literally take you apart piece by piece and send you to Raymond.” She shifted her gaze the Frank. “And he’d certainly just kill you because you are of absolutely no value.”

Naomi put her head in her heads and suppressed a sob. “When will that man’s crimes stop ruining my life? I don’t want anything to do with Raymond but I don’t really have a choice.”

“Well, I am glad that you are finally coming around to understanding your situation. Elizabeth was nearly killed twice in the same week. This man will be coming for you and Jennifer next.”

The younger woman raised her head in shock hearing the name Elizabeth. She cautiously repeated, “Nearly?”

Mr. Kaplan took a sip of her coffee and nodded. “Raymond is on his way to retrieve her as we speak.”

Her eyes widened. “This man knows about her?”

Naomi didn’t bother to hide her shock. Even the federal authorities hadn’t mentioned Elizabeth when she was interrogated within an inch of her sanity about Raymond. He had gone to great lengths to hide her in plain sight. She nodded. “Okay…”

Frank struggled beside her and tried to interject.

Naomi turned to look at Frank. “I am so sorry for dragging you into this and I will understand if you don’t want to come with us. This is serious, Frank. We’re in real danger. We need to go.”

The man slowly nodded his assent.

Mr. Vargas said, “Well, this has all gone swimmingly.”

“Naomi you need to pack as quickly as possible for the two of you. Once we leave you will need to call Jennifer.”

Naomi said, “I don’t know if Jennifer will agree but I will try to get her on board.”

Mr. Kaplan smiled warmly. “Don’t worry. We have contingencies in place for such a situation. Mr. Vargas will escort you upstairs to pack.”


	19. Dahlia

Raymond Reddington wore a pensive expression on his face as he stared out the window of the rented SUV. He was on tenterhooks as he waited for a confirmation call from Mr. Kaplan. Raymond trusted her to retrieve his ex-wife and daughter but couldn’t help feeling as if he should be there. The revelation of traitors within his organization was a startling blow and it made everything more tenuous.

He was a pragmatist in every sense of the word so he understood the concept of shifting loyalties. However, he treated the people that worked for him well. He made sure their pockets were lined and provided protection when necessary. Raymond understood the politics of keeping his people happy. Therefore, he was stunned to learn that men he had worked with for years had turned on him so easily for financial gain.

As well as Raymond treated his associates, there was also no doubt that he would execute them with sufficient provocation. There could be no sentimentality in a business like theirs. Raymond flew to New York overnight to terminate an associate’s employment. It was swift and clinical like a surgeon removing a malignant clump of cells.

However, the number of defectors was chilling. Raymond knew if he discovered six men willing to betray him that there were more. Berlin offered a delightful mix of financial incentive and terror. It was now apparent that some of the people in Raymond’s organization doubted his leadership.

Berlin’s attacks on Raymond business interests started years earlier but now they were more blatant. It was an obvious ploy to make him look weak and that made people willing to take the chance of crossing him.

Raymond stopped his brooding when he realized Dembe was pulling into the parking lot of the hotel. He relaxed marginally knowing that soon Elizabeth would be safe with him. However, he didn’t look forward to the ire he was sure to face from her.

When the car came to a stop, Raymond didn’t bother waiting for Dembe to open his door. He exited the SUV as he put on his fedora and walked up to the Elizabeth’s room. He knocked on the door and waited patiently for an answer.

A few moments later, Elizabeth opened the door looking exhausted but vaguely happy to see Raymond. She was already dressed and ready to go. She moved aside to let him into the room. “You’re late.”

He chuckled at the brusqueness of her tone and kissed her cheek. “Yes, you have my apologies for my tardiness, Lizzy. I’m afraid another matter required my immediate attention. On the bright side, my delay allowed you a few more hours of sleep that you desperately needed.”

Even with the extra sleep, he could see his daughter was still exhausted. Her daring escape from the hospital was ill advised for a number of reasons. At the top of the list was the fact that she hadn’t fully recovered from the accident.

Elizabeth eyed him cautiously and then closed the door. “Well, I guess you have a point. I would be in a worse mood if you would have arrived at the original time. Are you going to tell me what delayed you?”

Donald walked out of the bathroom dressed in dark blue jeans and a zip-up cardigan.  

Raymond stared at the lone queen sized bed in the room but wisely decided to avoid comment on the situation. The last such comment resulted in a tongue-lashing from Elizabeth and Donald punching him in the face. “Good morning, Donald.”

“Reddington,” he grunted as he finished drying his hair with a towel.

Elizabeth looked over her shoulder and said, “I made you a cup of coffee. It’s sitting on the nightstand. It is stronger than normal. I figured we could both use the caffeine boost.”

Donald draped the wet towel over the back of a chair and made a beeline for the steaming up of brew. He said, “Thanks.”

Elizabeth nodded and then crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at Reddington expectantly. “I was promised answers.”

Raymond’s lips twitched into an approving smile. She really was all him in the very best of ways. “And you will get answers once we are safely in the air. You have my word, Lizzy.”

“Not good enough. You have been lying to me for months so your word doesn’t have as much meaning as you might think. Answer one question now. I just want one question answered and then I will go with you. I think you owe me that at least.”

Raymond decided it was a reasonable enough request. Moreover, he doubted he could reason with her in this situation. He sat down at the small table and placed his hat on his knee. “What is your one question?”

Donald watched them cautiously from the other side of the room. None of this was any of his business but he was ready to call Reddington on his bullshit if he didn’t believe him. Elizabeth deserved the truth from him on this at least.

Elizabeth sat opposite him at the table and gave him an appraising look. “I want to know why you left me with Sam. You could have come back for me at any time but you didn’t. I deserve to know why you abandoned me.”

Raymond’s jaw tensed at the abrasiveness of Elizabeth’s words. He wasn’t offended by her feelings but rather he felt guilty that she felt thrown away by him. He reached across the table and took both of her hands in his. He supposed it was an inevitable byproducts of his actions but it couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“I didn’t abandon you, Lizzy. You and Jennifer are my reasons for living even if I didn’t get to watch you grow up. Sam was one of my oldest friends. We knew each other as boys. Even as adults, I confided in him more than I confided in anyone else. I gave you to Sam because I trusted him to protect you with his life. He understood that one day it might well come to that.”

Reddington looked away from Elizabeth. He couldn’t bear to see the hurt in her eyes as he spun his tale. “The night of the fire, I got a frantic call from your mother. She told me that someone was trying to break into the house. She called 911 but help didn’t come. I had powerful enemies. They figured using my ‘other family’ was a good motivational tool. I would know that if they would kill the two of you that they would have no trouble killing Naomi and Jennifer.”

Raymond ran a hand over his head and stared blankly at the table for a moment. He corrected himself, “I have powerful enemies, Lizzy. I don’t mean the man that has been going after my business interests. He is more of a yapping dog nipping at my heels. I have other enemies that have real power. I made enemies of men and women in governments here and aboard because I know things they don’t want anyone to know.”

Ressler looked as if he was ticking off boxes on a mental checklist. He had ideas about who really arranged the attack on the ‘Post Office’ and why. His theory had long been that Reddington had enemies within their own government.

“When I arrived at the house, it was already on fire and had been for a while. It was a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. The blaze could have raged on for hours before someone saw the smoke. I went inside and found your mother dead on the living room floor. There was blood everywhere. Even through the flames and smoke, I could smell that metallic scent that blood gives off. There was so much blood that I feared the worst for you. I thought if they could butcher an innocent woman…”

Donald abandoned his cup of coffee and rested a hand on Liz’s shoulder. It was one thing to assume her mother was dead but it was quite another to learn it was a violent death at the hands of shadowy government types. However, now Donald began to understand why Reddington didn’t trust the bureau or anyone else for that matter.

However, Elizabeth’s expression stayed blank. Somewhere along the way, she began clutching Reddington’s hand. She wasn’t sure if it was to comfort him or herself.

He continued, “It occurred to me that maybe they hadn’t killed you at all. Maybe they left you to burn alive in the inferno they started. I wrapped up in a throw blanket your mother kept on the couch and I ran through the flames to get upstairs. I called out for you and I prayed…I prayed you were still alive. When I found you…you were so scared. You could hardly move. I wrapped the blanket around you and ran out of the house as fast as I could. I suffered third degree burns all over my back from the flames but you were safe and that was all that mattered. I was worried they would come back for you if they realized you survived. The area was rural and mostly corrupt. Most of the county positions were filled by nepotism and backroom deals. The coroner owed me a big favor. He falsified a death certificate for you. I bought two plots: one to bury your mother and the other contains an empty casket.”

Elizabeth finally found her voice. “What was her name? My mother…what was her name?”

The sheer amount of pain on Reddington’s face was uncomfortable. He cleared his throat. “Her name was Dahlia Bayliss.”

She rolled the name around in her head hoping that there would be some small spark of recognition but there was none. Elizabeth felt moisture on her cheeks and realized for the first time that she was crying. She whispered, “What’s my name? I’ve sort of figured that Elizabeth isn’t my real name.”

“You were born Ivy Elizabeth Bayliss.”

Her eyes widened comically. “Ivy? I don’t look like an Ivy.”

Raymond huffed out a laugh. “Well, your maternal grandmother’s name was Hyacinth. I managed to talk your mother out of naming you in her honor. After your mother died…I created a completely new identity for you. I gave you the name Elizabeth so that you could keep some part of your mother with you always.”

“I want to believe you but everything you’ve said to me has been a lie for the moment you met me. I asked if you were my father and you said no.”

“I lied to protect you. If they find out who you are to me…I missed your entire life to keep you safe, Elizabeth. As much as I love you, I am not the man that was your father. He died in the fire that night. He had to die in order to do the things I have done to survive. I never wanted you to know me this way. The things you’ve seen me do since I have come back into your life.”

Elizabeth swallowed thickly as she thought about the people she witnessed him kill in such a brief time.

Red reached into the pocket of his blazer and pulled out a few pictures. He placed one in front of Elizabeth. “That’s Dahlia, you, and me the day she brought you home from the hospital.”

Elizabeth’s fingers trembled as she reached out and picked up the picture.

Donald stared at the picture and said, “You look like her.”

Raymond nodded with a wistful smile. “Yes, she does look like her mother. Lucky for you, Donald, that she doesn’t look like me.” He showed her another picture. “This is the last picture we took together before Dahlia was murdered.”

Recognition flickered in Elizabeth’s eyes. She didn’t remember her mother but her own face was familiar in the picture. It matched the few pictures Sam had from when she was around that age.

Reddington’s phone started to ring. “I’m waiting on a call from Mr. Kaplan. I need to take this. She’s in Philadelphia to get my ex-wife and Jennifer.”

He stood up and walked out of the room to answer the phone. Raymond hoped it went smoothly but he knew well enough how stubborn his ex-wife could be.  

Donald moved so that he could see Elizabeth’s face. He took her hand and asked, “Are you okay?”

Elizabeth nodded numbly. “I sort of hoped this time he was lying.”

He sighed quietly and pulled her up into a hug. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m a FBI agent. I knew that my mother was most likely dead. I mean it’s the only scenario that makes sense but I guess I sort of hoped…”

“I know…”

She said, “The people that killed my mother are out there. If we believe Red, they are in positions of power in our government. What if I’m working for them, Don?”

Donald opened his mouth to answer Elizabeth’s question but stopped when the room’s door bounced against the wall loudly. He turned around to see Raymond’s ashen face.

Elizabeth slipped out of Resseler’s embrace and approached Reddington. “What happened?”

Raymond said, “Get your things. We need to leave now. The call was from Mr. Vargas. He accompanied Mr. Kaplan to Philadelphia. They managed to convince Naomi and Jennifer to go into hiding but there was an ambush. Mr. Kaplan was shot in the chaos.”

Elizabeth felt her stomach drop. Mr. Kaplan came off as a bit of an odd duck but the woman had been incredibly kind to her. She squeezed Red’s hand. “Is she okay?”

He shook his head. His voice cracked as he said, “I don’t know, Lizzy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger :-)


	20. Bleeding Out

Lizzy sat in the backseat of the SUV with Reddington. She stole glances at him periodically to gauge his emotional state. She knew his emotions were still raw from telling her about the night her mother died. The unexpected injury to Mr. Kaplan only compounded that apparent stress. Mr. Vargas had been vague about the severity of Mr. Kaplan’s wounds and that only served to inspire more uncertainty and fear. However, the silent implication was that it wasn’t good. The only upside was that in about 30 minutes the plane would be landing at a private airstrip in a rural town 20 minutes north of Greensboro.

The plane Dembe and Reddington arrived on would take off from the airstrip and head in the opposite direction they were going. It was just a bit of misdirection to confuse their pursuers. Berlin’s people wouldn’t be sure which plane Reddington was on and they would be forced to split their resources in half. Right now, that was the best they could hope for in this situation. Reddington didn’t know how many of his associates had been compromised. Berlin could have won over any number of them with threats, bribery, or just stating the obvious—Raymond Reddington was no longer untouchable.  

Raymond stared aimlessly out of the window as the rented vehicle flew down a dirt road, kicking up dust as they went. He didn’t enjoy feeling helpless. Mr. Kaplan was only in Philadelphia because he asked her to retrieve his family. Instead of dwelling on what he could not change, Raymond began to plot his revenge. He fully intended to crush the parties responsible for the ambush. Raymond would make sure their deaths were as slow and painful as he could arrange. In his line of work, death was usually perfunctory. He often killed his victims in a detached manner. It was usually a means to an end instead of for enjoyment. However, he was capable of that sort of evil as well.

He trusted almost no one. Reddington had suffered too many betrayals in his life to willing make himself vulnerable with anyone. Therefore, the few people he deigned to allow into his inner circle were family in every sense of the word. He would protect that family at all costs. The world didn’t really want to see a Raymond Reddington without Mr. Kaplan’s steadying hand. She could pull him back from the brink of madness when no one else could reach him. He didn’t always appreciate her input in the moment but he always acknowledged it later. Rage had the ability to make a seeing man blind.

Raymond looked into the rearview mirror and met Dembe’s gaze. He knew the younger man was concerned about him. Dembe was Raymond’s son in all the ways that mattered. He rescued the young boy from certain death and nursed him back to health. However, it wasn’t just his physical health that needed tending to. In the beginning, Dembe suffered from PSTD so severe that he could hardly sleep more than a few hours at a time without waking up in a panic. He cared for the young man and helped him heal over the years. He paid for his education and encouraged him to find a career away from his business but it had been a fruitless attempt. Dembe was too loyal to abandon Raymond. Despite his own moral deficiencies, he taught Dembe how to be a good man and it stuck.

Raymond’s relationship with Mr. Kaplan went back even further and was much more complicated. Katherine played varying roles in his life depending on what was needed at the time. She was his friend, confidant, mentor, older sister, and frequently his lover. Reddington’s life was such that he could rarely let down his guard. He was always playing some role for someone. He had too many secrets to let anyone get too close to him. Somehow, his life had become a delicate house of cards and the wind always seemed to be blowing.

Katherine was the only person he would ever consider allowing to see his true self because she already knew him. No matter what mask he donned she knew what parts were real and which were meant to deceive. Perhaps it was because Katherine knew him before he was infamous. She was the only one who never for a second believed he was a traitor.

The car slowed to a stop as it approached the guard station just outside the gated airstrip. An armed guard stepped out of the secure booth and motioned for the windows to be rolled down.

Dembe lowered Reddington’s window so that he could speak with the man.

Reddington said, “Your superiors should have called to inform you of our arrival. My jet should be waiting on your tarmac presently.”

The guard studied Raymond’s face for a moment and then motioned to his colleague to open the gate. He nodded. “Yes, sir. I just needed to perform a cursory check for security purposes. We are on high alert until your parties safely depart. The medical supplies you requested have already been loaded onto your planes.”

Raymond nodded as he motioned for Dembe to raise the window and proceed through the opened gate.

When the rented SUV arrived on the tarmac Raymond saw the jet containing Mr. Kaplan, Naomi, and Jennifer. He felt some measure of relief knowing that they were at least within his grasp.

Agent Ressler and Dembe climbed out of front of the SUV first and made quick work of collecting the bags in the back of the car. They didn’t want to risk being exposed for too long. A delay at the airstrip in Philadelphia was partly to blame for the earlier ambush.

Raymond climbed the stairs to the plane and quickly took in the scene.

Naomi and Jennifer were huddled together towards the front of the jet. His ex-wife glared at him with an expected amount of disdain. The expression on Jennifer’s face was a lot harder to place. Perhaps curiosity mixed with disappointment.

His attention shifted to a man about his age sat close to the two women. He could only assume he was Naomi’s new husband. Although, in this situation ‘new’ was a relative term. He didn’t know how long ago Naomi decided to take a new husband.

Raymond walked toward the back of the plane and felt his heart drop upon seeing the amount of blood staining Mr. Kaplan’s clothes. The only good news was that she was conscious if only barely. There was a gun in her lap and her finger was curled the trigger as if waiting for an attack. It wasn’t an unreasonable position considering how she came to be injured in the first place.

She held a towel to her bleeding shoulder. Mr. Kaplan rasped out, “Raymond, I know it looks bad but I was lucky. The bullets didn’t strike anything vital on the way in and the their positioning is well away from any arteries. I will be fine once we get the slugs out of me and the bleeding lets up. I would have done it myself once the medical supplies arrived but I would have needed help and you know how Mr. Vargas feels about blood. I made him keep his distance so that he didn’t faint. It wouldn’t have been good for both of us to be unconscious should any emergency have arisen.”

Elizabeth felt relieved that Mr. Kaplan was conscious and talking. She asked, “What can I do to help?”

Reddington started taking off his jacket and said, “Find the field transfusion kit, supplies to treat the wounds, and something for the pain in all of the medical supplies.”

“I’m on it.” Lizzy rushed toward the yellow crates and started collecting what he would need.

He rolled up his sleeves and looked over his shoulder at Dembe. “Tell the pilot to get us in the air now. We can’t take the chance of becoming sitting ducks. Go in the back and check on Mr. Vargas when you are done. Let’s hope he hasn’t fainted from the sight of blood.”

Dembe nodded and trekked to the front of the plane to talk to the pilot.

Raymond sat next to Mr. Kaplan and said, “I let you out of my sight for a few hours and you get yourself shot.”

She laughed softly and smiled at him. Mr. Kaplan was more relaxed now that Raymond was there. She could finally let her guard down because he could protect his family.

He reached out and gently took the gun away from her. He put the safety on the gun and dropped it onto the seat beside him. “Did you recognize anyone?”

She swallowed thickly and nodded. “Some of the men work for Alexei. Although, I didn’t see Alexei with my own eyes. I doubt so many of his men are moonlighting without his knowledge.”

Elizabeth returned with the supplies and kneeled on the floor beside Raymond. She said, “We need to get that shirt off her. I don’t think we can move her shoulder with that state it’s in. I brought scissors.”

Raymond nodded and accepted the proffered scissors. He cut down the front of Mr. Kaplan’s already ruined blouse and tugged the remnants off her. He could clearly see her injuries now. A rather large caliber round had made and even larger hole in her shoulder. Her entire torso was stained with her own blood. The second wound was a little closer to her heart but not so close to damage anything vital.

Mr. Kaplan had been incredibly lucky. Alexei’s men were shooting to kill.

She laughed quietly. “I know what you are thinking.”

Raymond filled a syringe with Lidocaine to make the procedure a little less painful. He injected the medication near the wounds and gave it a moment to take effect. “Oh? You have many talents but I wasn’t aware that one of them was telepathy.”

“You are thinking that I should have been wearing my bulletproof vest,” she replied in a quiet voice. At least that was what she was thinking when the first piece of hot metal tore into her flesh.

He used a scalpel to enlarge the wound. Raymond didn’t want to have to fight in order to pull the bullet free. He smirked. “Well, if you know what I am thinking, then you might as well answer the question.”

Mr. Kaplan winced as she felt the pressure from the scalpel. She couldn’t necessarily feel the sting of the blade but just watching it was enough for her brain to react accordingly. “I didn’t think that I would need it. It was a miscalculation on my part.”

“It was a miscalculation that could have meant the end of you. I’m not going to lecture you.”

She smirked and winced as he wrenched the first bullet out of her. “You aren’t going to lecture me? It certainly sounds like you are gearing up for one of your hypocritical lectures.”

Lizzy had to stifle a chuckle. She had sat through more than her fair share of those. Reddington took the most insane risks with his own life but he acted offended when Lizzy did the same.

Raymond shot her a disapproving glare but quickly returned his gaze to Mr. Kaplan. He dropped the blood-stained bullet into a pile of gauze next to him and moved on to cleaning the wound. He asked, “Hypocritical?”

“You’re not wearing your vest either…not even after you found out Mr. Vargas and I were ambushed in Philadelphia,” she replied smoothly. Her eyes were closed as she tried to breathe through the pain. However, she was never in too much pain to give Red a little hell.

Elizabeth smirked and said, “He took enough time to insist that I put one on before we left the hotel. He even made Dembe put on a vest but he isn’t wearing one.”

Raymond looked between the two women. “You are both supposed to be smarter than I am.”

It was a light-hearted answer. However, the truth was that he counted them as being more important than he was. There were very few people in the world that Raymond would ever sacrifice his life for and they were all on this jet.

Mr. Kaplan said, “Flattery isn’t necessary. I just…I need to know that you are going to be careful, Raymond. We don’t know who we can trust. Not everyone may have turned against you but it could be anyone. It means relying on any of our allies will be a leap of faith.”

He huffed out a small laugh. “Isn’t it always?”

She frowned at his flippant reply. This situation was dangerous and it was quickly spinning out of their control. Berlin’s talons were poised to rip them apart like prey. Nothing could be left to chance—not anymore.

Mr. Kaplan whispered, “Raymond…”

He stopped working briefly so that he could look into her eyes. “Kate, there will be no more mistakes. You have my word.”

Lizzy looked a little stunned. She couldn‘t remember Reddington ever using Mr. Kaplan’s first name before now.

The older woman seemed satisfied with that. She relaxed against the leather seat and let Raymond continue to work on her.

Raymond looked at Lizzy. “Can you find something for Katherine to put on once I am done here?”

She nodded. “Sure. I will see what I can find in the way of clothing and wet wipes. We should try to clean up some of that dried blood as well.”

Elizabeth moved over to her bags and searched for something that would somewhat fit the older woman.

Ressler walked up behind her. “How’s it going back there?”

She straightened up with a t-shirt in her hands. “She’s going to be okay. Red was able to get the bullets out of her and he’s patching her now.”

“Good. He looked shaken in the car. I’ve only seen that look on his face once before,” said Donald. He didn’t need to say that it had been while inside the box at the Post Office. “How are you doing?”

Lizzy shrugged. “I am fine.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “Really? He’s not the only one that looked shaken by the news. You care about her.”

She huffed out a laugh. “I don’t really know her—not well anyway. It is just that on one of the worst days of my life she was there to make it better. She was the only one willing to do anything to get Red back. I’m glad that she is going to be okay.”

He kissed her forehead and said, “Well, then I am glad, too. So you’re going to get to meet your sister.”

Lizzy smiled and shook her head. “I’m sure that won’t be awkward at all.”

“I’m thinking illegitimate daughter is going to be pretty low on the list after the events of today,” he reasoned.

She chuckled softly and pushed by him to return to Reddington and Mr. Kaplan. She cleared her throat when she realized that they were in the middle of a private conversation. “I’m sorry. I found a t-shirt and I have some make-up wipes from my bag. It isn’t much but it should be enough to get rid of some of that blood.

Raymond took both items from her and said, “Thank you.”

 


	21. Cabin in the Woods

It was late evening by the time they arrived at Reddington’s picturesque 20-acre estate in Vermont. They arrived just as it began to storm violently. It was sheer luck that the storm system hadn’t moved in 30 minutes earlier or they wouldn’t have been able to land. Dembe, Lizzy, and Donald cleared the 3-story craftsman home room by room to ensure no one was lying in wait for them. They had gone to great lengths to conceal their whereabouts but as they learned that morning, Berlin had sources everywhere and wasn’t to be underestimated. However, after a 15-minute search, that included the basement and attic, Dembe gave the all clear so that everyone else could come inside.

Frank, Naomi, and Jennifer hurried into the house with their bags so that they wouldn’t get soaked by the torrential rain. All three had remained quiet for the duration of the flight. None of them wanted to be anywhere near Raymond but they recognized the true danger they were in after Mr. Kaplan was shot in front of them. 

However, Reddington and Mr. Vargas took their time walking while they supported Mr. Kaplan’s weight. She limped into the house on what was most likely a sprained knee. Dembe’s offer to carry her into the house had been met with silence and a scathing glare. She would rather get soaked to the bone than play the part of an invalid. 

Raymond was willing to oblige her stubbornness considering she was nearly killed in service of protecting his family. He also knew that she was in a lot more pain than she was willing to let on in front of the others.

Lizzy walked into the foyer when she heard the front door close behind them. She placed her gun into the holster on her hip as she approached them. “I put Mr. Kaplan’s bags in the bedroom down the hall. I figured that it would be better for her to have a bedroom on the first floor. I hope you don’t mind.”

Mr. Kaplan smiled genially. “No, I don’t mind at all. I don’t think that Raymond has the energy to help me all the way upstairs. I’m surprised that we made it this far. Thank you, Elizabeth.”

“You’re welcome. I’m just happy to see that you are looking better than you did a few hours ago,” Lizzy replied. When they first met the plane, she worried that Mr. Kaplan’s injuries would be fatal. She knew from the haggard expression on Reddington’s face that he had feared the very same.

“Raymond can help me the rest of the way to my room, Mr. Vargas. Go find some dry clothes. I know how you detest feeling soggy.’’

The other man smiled gratefully and slipped out from underneath her shoulder. He trudged up the stairs in search of an empty bedroom and a hot shower. Soon enough they would have to get down to the business of planning to retaliate against Berlin. 

Raymond chuckled as he helped Mr. Kaplan down the hall toward the bedroom. He wanted to be able to get a look at her knee. They needed to know just how badly it was injured. It sort of escaped notice earlier since the gunshot wounds were top priority. The lights flickered on and then right back off again. He asked, “What’s going on with the lights? Is it the storm?”

Elizabeth walked with them to the bedroom and replied, “We really aren’t sure. Dembe and Ressler are trying to get the electricity working. They are having a little trouble with the service panel. I am going to try to hunt up some flashlights and candles just in case that doesn’t pan out. We may be spending the night in the dark which means the house’s security system will be useless. We’ll have to set up some sort of crude warning system and sleep in shifts.”

Reddington helped Mr. Kaplan sit on the bed once they reached the bedroom. He closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to recall something. “Ah. There should be a box of storm supplies in the kitchen pantry. The box is labeled appropriately if I remember correctly. Could you also see what food we might have here? The weather is too bad for anyone to go to the store tonight.”

Lizzy nodded and said, “Thanks for the tip. I will find those storm supplies and see what other supplies I can dredge up for the night.” She turned her attention to Mr. Kaplan. “Can I bring you anything?”

“I could use a glass of water whenever you get around to it but there is no need to rush. It doesn’t look as if I will be going anywhere any time soon.” She nodded her head toward Raymond.

He was already cutting her pants’ leg to get a look at her injured knee. “We need a cold compress as well if there is any ice.”

Lizzy smiled and said, “I will be back soon with a glass of water for you and a cold compress of some sort.” She left the room and headed into the kitchen and stopped short when she Jennifer looking in the cupboards.

She cleared her throat and asked, “Have you stumbled across any glasses? Mr. Kaplan needs a glass of water.”

Jennifer turned around when she heard Lizzy’s voice. “They are in the one over the sink.”

Lizzy nodded and said, “Thanks.” She crossed the room and opened the cupboard. She pulled out a glass and rinsed it thoroughly before filling it with water.

Jennifer leaned against the counter. “You know, I didn’t even know that you existed until today. My mom never mentioned that I had a sister. I don’t even know if you are older or younger than I am.”

Lizzy turned off the water and turned around to look at the young woman. She smiled. “The way I understand it…I am about a year older than you are. I didn’t know that you were my sister until very recently. I didn’t even know that Reddington was my father.”

“But I thought…didn’t he raise you?” asked Jennifer. She had just assumed that was why her father never came back for her. 

“’No, he left me with a friend. A man named Sam raised me while Reddington was on the run from the authorities. Sam was a good man—a good father to me. I was lucky. There were worse fates.”

Jennifer said, “Our father is a can of worms I’d rather leave closed for now but...I’d like to get to know you. I always wanted a brother or sister.”

“I’d really like that, Jennifer.”

Naomi's voice could be heard from upstairs. “Jennifer!” 

She rolled her eyes. “I had better see what she wants. We’ll talk later.”

Lizzy smiled. “Okay.”

Donald walked into the kitchen soaking wet with a toolbox in his hand. However, he had a triumphant smile on his face.

Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow at him and asked, “Can I take that ridiculous look to mean that the problem with the electricity has been sorted?”

“Yes, it will need a few minutes to reboot but after that we should have lights.”

“Well, that’s good news. I was beginning to think we would have to stay here without use of the security system. This is a big house to secure by human means alone...especially since we have so few people to help.”

Don said, “Dembe and I have already agreed to keep watch tonight regardless if the security system works or not. We can’t take any chances.”

“I’ll stay up with the two of you then.”

He shook his head. “You need rest. Besides, you can take over for me in the morning. We’ll need to be on guard until we figure out a way to bring neutralize Berlin.”

She sighed, “One way or another…”

Lizzy hated to admit that killing Berlin might be the only option. The man was a maniac and whatever grudge he held against Reddington wasn’t going to simply go away. Even putting him in prison might not make them any safer. His network would still be in place to do his bidding.

“Any preference on bedrooms?” asked Don. “I want to get into some dry clothes.”

She shook her head. “No. Just pick one and let me know which one you chose. I need to get this glass of water to Mr. Kaplan...after I figure out how to make a cold compress for her.”

Don said, “The power hasn’t been out for long. Everything in the freezer should still be frozen.” 

“Well, that’s good to know. Thank you.” She searched the drawers for a tea towel to wrap the frozen item in.

He walked over to refrigerator and opened the door. He grabbed a bag of frozen peas and tossed them onto the counter. Don pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “I’ll see you in a bit.”

Elizabeth wrapped the tea towel around the frozen peas and picked up the glass of water on her way out of the kitchen. When she reached Mr. Kaplan’s room, she tapped the door with her elbow. “Can I come in?”

Raymond opened the door. He had shed his coat and suit jacket in Lizzy’s absence. He looked no less harried now that he was comfortable. 

Lizzy placed the glass of water on the nightstand where Mr. Kaplan could reach it. She smiled and said, “I found frozen peas for your cold compress. I hope these will be okay. The good news is that we should have power again soon. Dembe and Don were able to get the panel up and running again.”

Mr. Kaplan accepted the cold compress and placed it gingerly on her knee. “Thank you.”

Raymond emptied two pain pills into the palm of his hand and passed them to Mr. Kaplan. “Take these for the pain.”

She looked at the pills balefully. “You need me at my best and I won’t be that if I’m groggy because of narcotics. I will be fine, Raymond.”

“Katherine,” said Raymond, his voice firm but also pleading. 

She frowned at him but took the two pills and popped them into her mouth. She picked up the glass of water and washed them down. “Satisfied?”

“Very,” he replied with a smirk. 

Lizzy smiled. “I am going to go check out the food situation and then I am going to find some dry clothes. I’ll let you know what I find.”

Katherine shook her head. “Go get yourself into some nice warm clothes first. You haven’t been out of the hospital for very long. You nearly drowned and that could cause you to develop pneumonia if you aren’t careful. Food can wait. If anyone is hungry they can figure it out for themselves.”

She laughed softly. “Okay. I’ll go get changed first.”

Raymond said, “She gives such good advice but she’s terrible at taking it.”

Lizzy laughed harder as she slipped out of the room. She climbed the stairs and stopped at the door nearest the landing because she recognized her hastily purchased baseball cap on the door knob. 

She could hear the shower running as soon as she walked into the room. Lizzy closed the bedroom door and headed toward the en suite bathroom. Lizzy knocked on the door. “Don…”

“Come in,” he called out over the running water.

She slipped into the bathroom and asked, “Do you mind if I join you?”

“The water is lukewarm but I wouldn’t mind the company.”

Lizzy peeled off the wet clothes and then slid into the shower stall with Don. It wasn’t large but it was much bigger than the shower in their hotel room. Besides, Lizzy didn’t exactly have any objections to being up close and personal with Ressler. 

“I was hoping that you would join me.”

She stepped under the shower head and let the water flow over her. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

Don chuckled. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just wanted to know how you were holding up. Today has been a roller coaster for you.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Ask me again after we all get out of this alive and without ending up in prison.”

“On the bright side, it is an either/or situation.”

“Not necessarily. We could go to prison and Berlin could pay someone to kill us while we are on the inside.”

Don kissed Liz and rested his hands on her hips. “Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine?”

She rested her forehead against his chest and laughed softly. “I’m sorry. I'm just tired. I will be more optimistic once we have a hot meal and a few hours of sleep.”

Don grabbed the shampoo and started.lathering Lizzy’s hair for her. “We will figure it out. The only real obstacle is getting Reddington to tell us the truth. He knows more than he has been telling us. Working blind is what will get us killed.” 

Lizzy hummed in agreement as his fingers massaged her scalp. “Mr. Kaplan is out of commission. He is going to need our help. He can't trust anyone outside of this house until Berlin is out of the picture.”


	22. United Front

Raymond sat in front of the fireplace and closed his eyes for a moment. Dinner with his two daughters, his ex-wife, and her new husband had been like pulling teeth. Seeing Jennifer and Elizabeth getting along so well was the only thing that made the meal slightly bearable. He was exhausted. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest since Lizzy and Ressler’s car was forced off that bridge. All of Raymond’s plans for handling Berlin had gone out of the window at that point. Now he was on the defensive and that wasn’t a place that he liked to be. He had to figure out how to gain an advantage over Berlin. Raymond had a trump card up his sleeve but he was saving it as a last resort. However, seeing that both of his daughters’ lives were at risk…it would seem that the last resort was upon them.

Katherine sat across from Raymond with her legs propped up on an ottoman and a cold compress on her knee. She quietly sipped her tea and watched him carefully. She knew better than most the type of man Raymond could be when his back was up against the wall. His charming façade would fade into something vicious and uncontrolled. She stirred her cup of tea hard enough to make the teaspoon clank against the cup loudly in order to draw his attention. Katherine smiled when Raymond looked up at her with a startled expression. She asked, “Do you intend to sulk all night?”

He smiled wryly because Katherine absolutely had him pegged. He should be enjoying the opportunity of spending time with Elizabeth and Jennifer. Instead, he was trying to figure out a way to not receive pieces of their bodies in boxes for the foreseeable future.  He said, “I’m not sulking. I’m trying to figure out how to effectively use the only leverage I have in this war with Berlin. He has people embedded in my organization. I don’t know who I can trust. He’s been a dozen paces ahead of me the entire time. Frankly, I’m sick of playing catch up in the matter.”

“You’re right he has been ahead of **_you_** this entire time. However, no one told you to try to fight this monster on your own, Raymond. In the beginning, you didn’t even know what this was truly about. I understand why you didn’t tell Elizabeth about Berlin then. However, I don’t understand why you are still keeping her in the dark now. Elizabeth and Agent Ressler could be assets in this, Raymond. I know that you have your doubts about the effectiveness of the FBI, but surely you trust your daughter.”

Reddington said, “Donald could be useful but ultimately he’s a fed. I trust Elizabeth. She is a good agent but I don’t want to involve her in this. I don’t want to put her any further at risk. There is no guarantee that finding out the truth will stay Berlin’s hand. He’s believed a fiction for two decades. He has allowed it to torture him every day. I can only imagine the ways it would twist me if I believed someone was responsible for doing something so heinous to one of my children. We don’t how far gone he is.”

She hummed in agreement. “There is also the little matter of turning an innocent young woman over to a man that she went to great lengths to escape. She must have had her reasons. Raymond, you know that I will always do everything in my power to help you. But I’m a little hobbled right now. I can only do so much. Dembe and Mr. Vargas are reliable but you’re going to need more help than they can provide. You can’t protect Elizabeth and protect her from Berlin. Those two things are at odds with one another because you need her help.”

“You’re not going to let this go. Are you?” he asked. However, he already knew the answer. Katherine was always the one to pull him back from the brink. She obviously knew that he was teetering on the edge right now.

She smiled. “Not likely. Besides, I don’t think that Elizabeth can stomach more lies and secrets from you, Raymond. She’s just found out that you are her father. Don’t do something that will push her away. She’s as ornery as you are. Elizabeth proved that when she jumped from the fourth floor window of her hospital room just to force your hand. Tell her tonight. Elizabeth just might surprise you.”

He closed his eyes tiredly. “Don’t remind me. I thought you worked for me.”

Katherine said, “I do work for you.”

“Then why does it feel as if you are ordering me around?” Raymond opened one eye to look at her.

She raised the teacup up to hide the smile on her face. “I would never. I’m merely making a suggestion.”

“It didn’t sound very much like a suggestion but you are right. I’ll talk to Elizabeth tonight. I guess I will have to include Donald since the two of them appear to be attached at the hip.”

“That is a very sound decision that you came to all on your own,” Katherine said patronizingly.

He gave her a pointed look but didn’t have the energy to muster a witty response. “They’re sharing a room,” he complained.

“They were living together before all of this. She’s a little old for you to play the overprotective father. Elizabeth is perfectly capable of making her own decisions.”

“Her marriage to Tom would suggest otherwise.”

Katherine’s eyebrows went up at that jab. “We are rapidly straying into the glass house territory on that matter.”

He waved Katherine off before she could remind him that Tom’s presence in Elizabeth’s life was all his fault. Raymond regretted that particular choice on a daily basis. At the time, he thought that having someone watching out for Lizzy was the right thing to do. He only wanted to keep her safe. He couldn’t have known that he was asking the fox to watch the hen house. Ultimately, Katherine was right about Donald being a better choice.

Raymond stood up. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Dembe will return from walking the perimeter of the house soon if you need anything.”

Katherine nodded as she picked up her book and returned to the page where she left off.

Reddington walked down the hall to his office and unlocked the door. He needed to retrieve the dossier he had amassed on Berlin. He had to begrudgingly agree with Katherine’s assessment of his options—he didn’t have any options. Now that Katherine was on the injured reserve list, his roster was down to Dembe and Mr. Vargas. They were both top-notch at their jobs but it wouldn’t be enough to take on Berlin. He would need Lizzy and Donald’s assistance. He might even have need of the FBI at some later point.

He collected the locked box containing the dossier and then locked the office door behind him. He didn’t know enough about Naomi’s husband to leave his office unlocked while the man was in the house. However, what he did know about Frank Hyland made him want to rearrange the man’s face. He would have a strongly worded conversation with Frank before returning the couple to Philadelphia.

Raymond walked upstairs and knocked on Lizzy and Don’s bedroom door.

Donald opened the door holding a gun and wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms. He slowly lowered the gun when he saw that it was Reddington. “You’re here to see Liz?”

“I’m here to speak with both of you actually,” he replied.

The younger man looked behind him and then moved back to allow Raymond into the room.

Lizzy was curled up on the bed wearing the top that matched Ressler’s pajama bottoms. She muted the television when he walked into the room. “Is everything okay?”

Reddington pushed the door closed and glanced at the television. He smiled wryly seeing that the couple had been watching SportsCenter together. He said, “Well, things aren’t anymore disastrous than they were a few hours ago. For now, we’re in a pleasant holding pattern.”

Ressler put the safety on his gun and placed it on the nightstand. He had a seat beside Elizabeth on the bed and said, “Well, that’s actually good news when you consider how the last few days have gone.”

Raymond pressed his thumb against the biometric scanner on the lockbox and then placed it in front of Lizzy. “This is absolutely everything I’ve collected on Berlin since the moment I realized that someone was targeting my business interests.”

Elizabeth looked genuinely surprised by the move. She looked at Donald for a moment and then started digging through the files inside of the lockbox. She fanned them out on the bed. However, a picture clipped to a file caught her attention. She touched the glossy photo and then looked up at Reddington. Lizzy swallowed thickly. “The Stewmaker?”

Donald leaned over to look at the picture. He recognized the style of photo, too. He had spent hours combing over The Stewmaker’s book of horrors. However, he’d never seen this picture before. “You stole this from the book before the FBI arrived on the scene?”

“Why would you do that? Who was this girl?” Lizzy asked.

“Berlin was led to believe that this was his daughter. He received pieces of her body regularly while he served time in prison. He’s been targeting me because he thinks that I am responsible for the death of his daughter.”

Lizzy shook her head. “You’re a lot of things but I don’t see you as being the type of person to kill an innocent child just to exact some sort of revenge on their parents.”

Raymond couldn’t express how deeply grateful he was that Lizzy knew that about him. He said, “Someone went to great lengths to make Berlin my enemy. I don’t know who it is but I will figure it out. In the meantime, you will learn from those files that Berlin’s daughter isn’t in fact dead. She faked her own death to get away from him. I know exactly where Zoe is.”

Donald opened another file and frowned. It would seem that Raymond had been swiping evidence from many of the cases they had worked with him. His belief that Reddington was just using the Bureau to further his own agenda had been proven in a big way. However, that was a concern for later—much later.

Don said, “Not that we aren’t grateful for the sudden transparency but…”

“It’s totally out of character for you,” Lizzy finished for him.

Don nodded in agreement as he thumbed through the file on his lap.

Raymond frowned at Ressler but directed his response to Lizzy. “Someone suggested that it might be smarter to just be honest with you.”

Lizzy flashed a knowing smile. “Mr. Kaplan got to you, didn’t she?”

He frowned. “I came to this decision on my own. Mr. Kaplan just happened to be in the room at the time.”

Lizzy laughed. “Uh huh.”

Raymond cleared his throat. “Well, I will leave you two to study everything. We’ll all meet tomorrow morning to discuss where to go from here. Return everything to the lockbox when you are finished with it. I’ll get it back from you in the morning.”

Elizabeth stood up and hugged him. “Thank you for not trying to shut me out of this.”

He returned the hug despite his initial shock. Reddington smiled. “Well, I wouldn’t want you jumping out of anymore windows to get your point across.”

Donald muttered an unintelligible agreement. He wasn’t going to let Lizzy live that one down for quite some time.

Elizabeth shot him a critical look over his shoulder. “Did you say something?”

Raymond chuckled. “Good night.”

Lizzy walked to the door and locked it behind Reddington. “You didn’t answer my question…”

He smiled. “You tricked me, stole my coat, and jumped out of a window.”

She climbed onto the bed and asked, “You’re still sore about that?”

“A little,” he replied.

“Well, I promise to make it up to you as soon as we find the maniac that wants to hack me and Jennifer into mail-able pieces. Acceptable?”

Donald said, “I find that to be incredibly acceptable. Alright, Liz…let’s get cracking.”


	23. Up in the Air

Elizabeth stood in front of the coffee maker with her eyes closed. She hadn’t slept well last night and coffee was the only thing that would keep her going for the rest of the day. In theory, she could have stayed in bed for at least another couple of hours. The sun was only just rising and everyone else in the house seemed to still be sleeping. However, she knew that her scattered thoughts would keep her from resting. Berlin’s dossier told a disturbing tale of loss, mental torture, and ultimately manipulation. There had to be a reason why this man assumed that Reddington slaughtered his only child. Someone wanted the two men as enemies. Elizabeth found herself even more concerned about the invisible hand that set these wheels in motion. 

Her eyes blinked open when she realized that the coffee was finished brewing. She filled two mugs and then carried them out onto the front porch. She placed one mug on the porch railing and then sat down on the swing with the other. Elizabeth cradled the cup in both of her hands to keep them warm. It was freezing outside but she knew that the frigid temperature would chase away any remaining drowsiness. Besides, she was waiting on Donald to finish walking the perimeter of the property. He had taken over guard duties from Dembe about thirty minutes ago.

She clapped a hand over her mouth as she coughed violently. Elizabeth groaned softly at the sharp pain she felt in her chest afterwards. Berlin wasn’t the only reason that she was unable to sleep last night. She found it hard to breathe every time that she tried falling asleep.

Ressler smiled as he walked toward the porch and saw Lizzy waiting for him. He put the safety on the long gun he was carrying and climbed the stairs. He stopped to shake off the snow caked onto his boots and then walked over to the swing. “Aren’t you freezing out here?”

She motioned to the steaming cup of coffee on the railing. “It’s not so bad actually. I’m wearing your coat. How was your walk?”

“Thank you.” He picked up the cup of coffee and then sat beside Lizzy. He said, “Everything is quiet. The only tracks I picked up were left by Dembe and a moderately sized doe.”

Elizabeth took a sip of her coffee. “That’s one less thing we have to worry about-- for the time being anyway.”

“Why aren’t you still in bed?” He asked even though Don could figure out her reasons.

She shrugged. “I wasn’t going to be able to rest. It made more sense to get up to do something productive. I’ll start breakfast when people start moving around.I was thinking that you or I need to make contact with Aram. It would be nice to know what Cooper has learned without us.”

Don took a sip of his coffee and nodded in agreement. “Aram was working a secure method for communicating with us. Alternating between burner phones will only work for so long if someone starts monitoring him. I’ll go into town later to pick up a new burner phone.”

“I can do it. Dembe and I are going to have to go into town for supplies. We don’t know long we will be here but the supplies will only last for another day at the most.”

He nodded. “How are your lungs feeling?”

She snorted. “What an odd question to ask randomly?”

Ressler frowned at Lizzy and said, “It isn’t so random when you’re recovering from nearly drowning. Being exposed to the elements so soon after that can’t be helping.”

“I’m fine,” she answered. 

He took another sip of his coffee and said, “I heard you wheezing last night when you fell asleep. I don’t remember you wheezing when we stayed the night at the hotel…”

Elizabeth’s hand unconsciously went to her chest. “Breathing is a little more difficult but I figured it was to be expected after having freezing water in my lungs. I haven’t noticed any wheezing while I am awake.”

“I haven’t noticed it either. It might have something to do with you laying down. Either way...we should keep an eye on it. You’ve been coughing more lately and I know you’ve been short of breath. We’ll have to take you to a hospital if your lungs get any worse.”

She shook her head. “You know that is out of the question. The FBI and Berlin’s people would be on me the moment I checked into a hospital. My symptoms aren’t exactly inconspicuous.”

He pressed a kiss into her hair. “We might not have a choice, Liz. This isn’t like a gunshot wound. There is only so much we can do for you out here. You’re going to need medicine that we don’t readily have access to here.”

Elizabeth knew that Don was right. She had known since she left the hospital that something wasn’t right with her breathing. However, wheezing was a new and disconcerting symptom to add to the growing list. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’re almost as bad a patient as I am, and that’s saying something because…”

“Because you were an absolute terror after you were shot. Trust me...I remember very well.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Lizzy snorted. “Oh, I would. I don’t know how many times I had to pretend I didn’t see you about to pass out from the pain during physical therapy. You ran roughshod over poor Chad. He tried telling you to take it easy and you just ignored him and all of his physical therapy training.”

“He was annoying,” he said. 

She laughed. “He liked me.”

Don asked, “Really? I didn’t know that.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You couldn’t have been more transparent. I just didn’t know why you didn’t want me going out with him at the time. I thought it was because I was still technically a married woman.”

Don smiled. He had given the younger man such a hard time because he insisted on shamelessly flirting with Lizzy. At the time, they were friends and partners so he really didn’t have the right to discourage Chad the physical therapist. However, he could make him so flustered that he didn’t have the time to pay her any attention. It worked incredibly well if Don didn’t say so himself. 

“Stopped looking so pleased with yourself. He was nice,” Lizzy insisted. 

“He was a pipsqueak,” Don muttered. 

She laughed quietly and closed her eyes for a moment. The black coffee wasn’t exactly doing its job and the tightness in her chest was growing. 

He placed an arm around Lizzy’s shoulders and said, “We should talk to Reddington about getting some medicine for you...just in case. You need a course of antibiotics for sure. The doctor was going to prescribe some for you before you were released from the hospital. Do you remember what else he mentioned?”

“I don’t remember everything but I know that Reddington harassed my doctors and nurses even when he wasn’t physically in the hospital. He might remember better than I do. I just don’t see how we are supposed to get any medicine without attracting the wrong attention to us. Reddington can’t really use any of his contacts right now. He doesn’t know how many have been turned by Berlin.”

Don said, “I’ll steal what we need from a local hospital if I have to, Liz. If you start developing serious complications treating you ourselves won’t be an option. We’ll have to take you to a hospital which means we’ll be out in the open. You know there’s no way that I or Redington would leave you in the hospital. The three of us will be sitting ducks for Berlin.”

She nudged his side gently. “That was a low blow, Ressler.”

“Well, you’re only reasonable when it comes to other people’s safety.”

“Pot, meet kettle. But you’re right. I’ll talk to Reddington and Mr. Kaplan. Maybe they can figure something out.”

He pecked her lips softly. “That’s all I ask. Thank you.”

“Well, I’ve already roped you into running from the law and a murderous psychopath. I can’t start you on a criminal spree of stealing from hospitals,” she said. Liz covered her mouth as she barked out a chest rattling cough. 

Ressler frowned and stood up. He held his hand out to Lizzy. “It’s time for you to get back inside. I don’t think sitting out here in this weather is exactly helping the situation.”

Lizzy relented because her chest actually hurt from that last cough. She took his hand and stood up. “If you try to make me go back to bed I will break up with you.”

He laughed as they walked into the house. “I would try it if I thought that you’d actually stay there. However, I know better than that. Besides, you breaking up with me would interesting since we live together.”

Lizzy locked the door behind them and scowled playfully. “I could move out…”

He asked, “Who would you eat cookies with in the middle of the night?”

“Chad?” she teased. Lizzy laughed. “I’m only joking. He might do something unforgivable like give me an oatmeal cookie.”

He feigned shock, “Oh, the horror. We just can’t have that.”

Raymond straightened his tie as he walked into the room. “Good morning…”

Lizzy smiled. “Good morning. How’s Mr. Kaplan today?”

He said, “She’s complaining about my insistence that she needs rest. Otherwise, she’s doing a bit better.”

Ressler said, “Well, you have something in common with Mr. Kaplan, Liz.”

Raymond frowned and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Lizzy elbowed Don in the side. She smiled. “We actually needed to talk to you about something. We were hoping that you remembered your conversations with my doctor a little more clearly than I do at the moment. Especially, anything about what medicines he wanted to prescribe for me before I was released from the hospital.”

The confusion on Raymond’s face was swiftly replaced by concern. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“I’ve been coughing a little more and Don said that I was wheezing in my sleep last night. He’s being overly cautious but there’s nothing wrong with being prepared,” she replied. 

The older man glanced at Ressler and realized that Lizzy was downplaying the seriousness of the situation. Perhaps he was right about Lizzy and Katherine having something in common. They were both incredibly stubborn. He nodded. “Yes, I spoke with Dr. Harris extensively about what sort of care you would need once you were released from the hospital. I meant to make arrangements once you left the hospital early but I forgot in all of the confusion. I will get on that now. You’ll have what you need by this evening.”

Lizzy shook her head. “You don’t need to rush, Reddington.”

“It’s not a rush. There’s no time like the present,” he replied. He turned around and walked back down the hall.

Lizzy walked into the kitchen to investigate what they had for breakfast. She was thinking that pancakes would probably be the easiest thing to make for so many mouths when taking into account the food they had on hand. She said, “You both are making a big deal about nothing. I have a cough. I’ve had worse.”

Don refreshed his cup of coffee and said, “You can’t really fault us for being concerned about you. You nearly drowned. Liz. When I realized you were still in the water…”

She abandoned the cabinet and turned around to face Donald. She took his hand and squeezed it. “Hey, I’m okay.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand in return. “I know that but I’d like for you to stay that way. Apparently, your father is of the same mindset.”

Elizabeth chuckled. “Yeah, I am still working out the whole father thing in my head. I still don’t know what to call him. Calling Reddington ‘Dad’ would feel strange even if I’ve suspected as much for months. But calling my father by his first or last name feels weird, too. I wonder if he has a preference.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Are you going to ask him about it?”

“Maybe. It just feels like it’s a strange conversation to have with him. I sort of don’t know what answer I’m hoping for.” Elizabeth turned away and covered her mouth as a coughing fit took over her. 

Ressler winced in sympathy as he watched her curl in on herself with each ragged cough. 

Elizabeth grabbed onto the counter as she began to feel light-headed.

Donald abandoned his cup of coffee and grabbed onto Elizabeth’s waist to steady her. He guided her to a chair in the breakfast nook and helped her sit down. “Take it easy…”

She began gasping for air between coughs. Each breathe was accompanied by a pronounced wheezing sound. 

“Come on, breathe slowly or you’re going to start hyperventilating, Liz,” Don said quietly. The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach had returned with a vengeance. 

Lizzy closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing but she could feel panic begin to creep up inside of her. She flashed back to Tom’s hands being around her throat. 

Jennifer stepped into the kitchen with a concerned expression. “Oh my God. Is she okay?”

Ressler shook his head. “No. Uh, could you go find Reddington and Dembe?”

Elizabeth gasped loudly for air and clutched at the fabric of Ressler’s shirt. 

He turned to look at Lizzy once more and saw that she was starting to lose consciousness. He called out, “Fast please!”

Jennifer turned around and ran out of the kitchen. “Mom!”

Lizzy slumped and her head lolled to the side as she passed out from lack of oxygen.

“Damn it!” Ressler pulled Liz out of the chair and placed her on the ground. He moved down beside her and started giving her rescue breaths as he checked her pulse. 

 


	24. Straight to Hell

Donald periodically checked his burner phone for missed calls as he sat outside of a rural clinic. He was waiting impatiently for the staff to arrive for the day. If the sign was to be believed then Dr. Morra and Dr. Sinclair would be arriving in the next ten to fifteen minutes. Reddington had sent him to the clinic with a carrot and a stick to persuade one or both of the doctors to help Lizzy. The carrot was a bag of money and the stick was an AR-15. Donald had no interest in using the stick but he would do it if that meant saving Elizabeth’s life. However, he hoped that he could be persuasive without the use of threats

He and Dembe had been able to get Lizzy breathing once again but she hadn’t regained consciousness. Furthermore, her breathing was labored and her pulse was sluggish. The longer Liz remained in that state, the longer her heart had to struggle to pump blood to her brain and essential organs. Mr. Kaplan informed them that if they didn’t get Lizzy help soon that the damage could be permanent or worse fatal. Ressler struggled to figure out how he could have changed the outcome of the situation. Perhaps the only way would have been to take Lizzy back to the hospital when he found her on that bus. However, he knew that her life would have been in just as much danger in a hospital. 

While he waited outside the clinic, Dembe was in town buying as many medical supplies as he could from the local pharmacy. None of them knew if this would be enough to save Lizzy but it was the best that they could do under the circumstances. However, Reddington swore that he would take Elizabeth to the hospital immediately if her condition worsened or if she didn’t begin to improve in the next 12 hours. Ressler was vaguely worried about the complex expression on the older man’s face as he’d left the house. Reddington had looked determined and dangerous. Donald worried that Lizzy’s sudden turn for the worse had forced the outlaw’s hand in some way. 

Donald sat up straighter in his seat when he saw a dusty green jeep pull into the parking. He hoped that one of the doctors would arrive first. He wanted as few witnesses as humanly possible. Ressler waited several minutes as two women emerged from the jeep and walked into the clinic.

He started the car and sped across the street. He parked the hulking SUV directly in front of the door and left it running as he hopped out. Ressler grabbed a duffel bag from the passenger seat and walked into the clinic. 

A woman that appeared to be in her early 70’s stared at him with a curious expression. She was already shrugging on her white doctor’s coat. The name Dr. Morra was stitched onto the breast. She said, “I saw you parked across the street. Can I help you with something?”

The younger of the two women walked out of the back having heard voices. She looked closer to her 50’s. She subtly moved behind the reception desk as if she was going to call for help. However, she stopped when the older woman held up a hand. She asked, “Mom? What’s going on? ”

“This handsome young man was just about to tell me.”

Ressler took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry to just barge in on you like this but I have an emergency. I need your help. My girlfriend and I were in a car accident about a week ago. She spent several days in the hospital after having nearly drowned in below freezing water. She had to leave the hospital under dubious circumstances and hasn’t been taking any medicine. She developed a cough a day or so ago and it got progressively worse until she fainted this morning and briefly stopped breathing. We were able to get her breathing again but...she’s in bad shape.”

Dr. Morra gave him an appraising look. “And there is a reason why you can’t take her to the hospital…”

He nodded slowly. “One that I can’t really share with you but she’d be in almost as much danger if the wrong people got wind of her location and condition. I know this is an imposition but I am willing to pay for your time and discretion.”

The women watched him as he placed the duffel bag the reception desk and unzipped it. Ressler pulled out a couple of bound stacks of cash and placed them on the desk. 

Dr. Morra looked into the bag to see the rest of the money. She looked at Donald to study his expression.

“If that isn’t enough we can transfer more money into an account of your choosing. Please, we just need your help,” he pleaded. 

Dr. Sinclair scowled at her mother. “Mom…”

The older woman waved her off. “Start packing up everything that I’ll need.”

Dr. Sinclair frowned but relented. She looked at Ressler and asked, “Is your girlfriend allergic to anything?”

“I don’t think so,” he replied. 

Dr. Morra looked at her daughter. “Pack penicillin and erythromycin just in case. She’s probably going to need corticosteroids as well as cough medicine.”

“I know what to pack, Mother. It sounds as if the patient has pneumonia or some sort of acute respiratory infection. She’ll need albuterol sulfate and a nebulizer as well. I’ll get everything ready for us. I’m coming with you. I’m not letting you run off with some strange man just because he shows up with a bag of cash.”

“What about our other patients?” 

She shrugged. “I’ll leave a note on the door to let everyone know that we’ve had a family emergency. If it’s a medical emergency then they can go to the hospital, otherwise they can reschedule their appointment for another day.”

Dr. Morra smiled as she watched her daughter walk away. She turned back to Ressler and said, “We’re going to need oxygen as well. Help me load up a couple of tanks.”

Donald relaxed incrementally. “Thank you for agreeing to help, Dr. Morra.”

She led him through the back to the supply room and turned on the lights. She motioned two a few canisters of oxygen sitting in the corner. “You can just call me Charlotte and no thanks are necessary. You’re paying me well enough for what will amount to a few hours of work.”

He picked up two canisters and said, “You still have my gratitude because you could have said no or asked for more money.”

“Well, things get incredibly boring here. This is the most excitement we’ve had in years,” she replied. 

Ressler didn’t know how to take that but he nodded in acknowledgement as he carried the oxygen canisters out to the car. He placed them in the cargo area and then stashed the AR-15 under the seat. Ressler didn’t want to scare either woman and there was no need for the stick now that they’d agreed to help Lizzy.

He took a moment to send Reddington a text message to tell the older man that help was on the way. His personal opinion aside, he knew that Raymond loved both of his daughters. 

Dr. Morra stepped outside of the clinic and taped a sign to the front door. Afterwards she walked over to Ressler and asked, “Where are you staying?”

He said, “It’s out of the way and I’m not really familiar with this area. You two can ride with me or just follow me in your car if that would make you more comfortable.”

She nodded. “Were you injured in this car accident?”

Ressler looked shocked but then nodded. “I was but the doctors released me from the hospital days ago. My injuries were less severe than my girlfriend’s were. I’m in perfect health.”

Dr. Morra gave him a scathing look. “I’m sure your girlfriend thought the same thing before she stopped breathing. I don’t know what you’re running from and it is probably safer that I don’t know. However, I do know that you can’t have been taking care of yourself the right way while on the run.”

Ressler couldn’t exactly argue with her reasoning. He hadn’t really taken care of himself at all since he left the hospital. He was on a man on mission. He only cared about finding the person responsible for causing the accident. 

She smiled seeing that he was relenting. “You’re already paying me an obscene amount of money. At the very least you should get your money’s worth.”

Dr. Sinclair carried two large bags out of the clinic. She let the door close behind her and called over her shoulder. “I have everything. Could you lock up, Mom?”

Charlotte locked the door and then climbed into the jeep with her daughter. 

Ressler was already in the SUV and pulled out of the parking lot. He made sure that the doctors were following him before he increased speed and drove toward Reddington’s place. Inviting strangers to their safe house was a risk but it was one that they had to taken. Once Lizzy was stable they would have to be on the move once again. 

The drive out to the Reddington’s estate took about thirty minutes. He saw the other SUV was still missing when he arrived. It meant that Dembe hadn’t made it back just yet. Ressler suspected that Reddington sent his enforcer/bodyguard to do more than just procure medication from a pharmacy. However, he couldn’t worry about the details of that right now. He was more concerned with getting Lizzy the medical treatment she needed. 

He turned off the engine and climbed out of the SUV. Ressler walked to the back of the car and retrieved the oxygen tanks as the front door of the house opened. 

Raymond walked down the stairs to greet the doctors. “Good morning, ladies. Thank you both for making the trip this morning. Can I carry anything for you?”

Charlotte shook her head as she closed the door. She was clutching a black medical bag in one hand. “No, we can handle it from here. Just show me to my patient.”


	25. Mayday

When Elizabeth regained consciousness her head was foggy. It reminded her of a morning after a crazy night in her misspent youth. However, the oxygen mask covering her face was proof enough that it wasn’t fun that landed her in this position. She briefly wondered how long she’d been unconscious. The last thing Elizabeth remembered was hyperventilating in the kitchen. She assumed that she must have passed out at some point. She flashed back to Donald’s panicked face. Elizabeth hated that she had caused him so much grief. In fact, she had caused him nothing but grief from the moment they admitted they had feelings for one another.

She slowly tried to sit up in the bed and winced in pain. Her chest was sore--likely from chest compressions. That was great news. Someone had to give her CPR to get her breathing again. Elizabeth was slowly realizing just how close she came to dying. She really didn’t understand how it all got so out of control so quickly. She had been coughing for days and she was short of breath. However, the coughing fit that led to all of this had caught her by surprise. She thought there would have been more time, but she had been incredibly wrong.

Naomi looked over her magazine and noticed that Elizabeth was conscious and moving again. She put down the magazine and tapped out a quick message on the burner phone that Raymond gave her. He’d want to know immediately that Elizabeth was awake. She was still furious with her ex-husband.--even moreso now that his insane life had intruded on hers. However, Naomi knew how much he loved his children. She could see the genuine terror on his face while Donald and Dembe resuscitated Elizabeth on the kitchen floor. Naomi had always known that there was some good in Raymond and it was almost exclusively devoted to his children and the handful of people he loved.

She walked across the room and turned on the bedside lamp so that Elizabeth could see her better. She poured the young woman a glass of water and opened a pill organizer thoughtfully purchased earlier by Dembe. She said, “Hi, Elizabeth. You’ve been out for a little over four hours but you’re okay now. Raymond was able to arrange for two doctors to come out here to treat you. You have pneumonia and the coughing fit triggered an asthma attack. Raymond said that you had asthma as a child but haven’t had any symptoms for years. Dr. Morra has prescribed Azithromycin, Albuterol, and Theophylline to help clear up the pneumonia and to treat your asthma flare up. You’ll need to take the two pills by mouth and the Albuterol inhaler is on the nightstand if you need it.”

Elizabeth slowly removed the oxygen mask from her face and immediately regretted it. She definitely needed the oxygen for the time being. She covered her mouth and coughed harshly. She moaned in pain and closed her eyes to focus on taking slow breaths. She couldn’t afford to hyperventilate again. Elizabeth wasn’t sure if her lungs or chest hurt more at the moment. She accepted the pills and the glass of water from Naomi. She gave her a grateful smile and said, “Thank you.”

Naomi sat on the edge of the bed and took the glass once Elizabeth finished the water. She said, “You’re welcome, Elizabeth. Dr. Morra recommended that you stay in bed for the next couple of days while your body recovers. You’re probably feeling short of breath and a little weak right now. It will pass with time. You’ll also have to take a nebulizer treatment in about an hour. I know lying flat in the bed can be tiresome. I can prop you up with some pillows if you’d like. Is there anything I can get for you? Are you hungry?”

Elizabeth put the oxygen mask back on her face because she needed it. She couldn’t think clearly while struggling to breathe. She took a few moments to gather her wits and then something major occurred to her. Naomi had been nice to her from the moment that they’d met. However, it was strange that it wasn’t Reddington or Donald sitting at her sick bed. She could only think of a few reasons why that would be. She shook her head and slowly removed the mask again. “I’m not hungry but I could use those pillows to prop myself up a little.”

“I can definitely handle that,” Naomi replied. She walked over to the armoire and removed three fluffy pillows. She smiled at Elizabeth. “I stashed the pillows in there for just this situation. Lean up a bit for me, please.”  

Elizabeth leaned forward and allowed Naomi to place the pillows behind her back. She settled backward and said, “Thank you. Is my dad here?”

Lizzy was taken aback by her word choice. However, whether she liked it or not, Raymond Reddington was her father. And she was worried about him. She had a bad feeling about his absence. 

Naomi shook her head and said, “No, I’m sorry. He had to leave for awhile but Donald is downstairs. I’ll go let him know that you’re awake. He’s been worried about you all evening. We all were.”

“I’d appreciate that,” she replied. Elizabeth knew that Naomi wouldn’t have any idea what was going on with Berlin. However, she assumed that something must have happened while she was unconscious. Reddington wouldn’t have left her in such a precarious state otherwise.

“I’ll be right back. I’ll bring up some ginger ale and maybe a little something for you to nibble on later if you get hungry,” Naomi replied. 

Elizabeth placed the oxygen mask on her face and closed her eyes for a few moments. She felt horrible enough to agree to a hospital stay if it was even remotely possible. She picked up the remote from the nightstand and turned on the television. She was idly flicking through the stations when she saw reports of a plane crash on one of the cable news stations. Elizabeth turned up the volume as she watched in horror as a reporter recounted the harrowing details of a prisoner transport plane crashing off the East River in New York City. She couldn’t believe the carnage the crash left on the ground. There was no way that Reddington’s sudden absence was unrelated to the crash.

Ressler walked into the room with a harried expression. He walked over to the bed and sat beside her. He glanced at the television and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s good to see you awake, Liz. Although, I wish that I had better news to give you. You’ve seen at least part of it.”

She pulled the mask back and asked, “What happened? Where is my dad? Is he okay?”

He covered her hand. “He’s going to end the Berlin situation...once and for all. You need to be in a hospital and you can’t be because we’ve been hiding from that maniac. He decided to go on the offensive and prove to Berlin that his daughter is alive, well, and hates his guts. Unfortunately, the psychopath crashed a prisoner transport plane and escaped from custody. He’s in the wind and no one knows where to begin looking for him. However, we’re on high alert until further notice. Reddington sent two men he trusts implicitly to protect the house while he and Dembe are away. He said that you know them...Baz and Anton.”

She nodded and squeezed Donald’s hand. She remembered Baz from the day they tried to rescue Reddington from the madman that kidnapped him. Her brain was a bit fuzzy but she thought she could remember meeting Anton that day as well. Elizabeth studied Ressler’s worried expression. She knew that something else was at work here. He looked so drawn and tired. Elizabeth looked at him with a questioning expression.

“There is something else that I need to tell you. But you have to stay calm. Reddington doesn’t want you to know but I’m not going to lie to you...not even by omission,” he said.

Elizabeth didn’t like the ominous tone of his voice. She nodded slowly and held his hand tighter.

He said,“Meera was killed this afternoon around the same time that Assistant Director Cooper was nearly killed. We think that this was Berlin cleaning house to pave the way to Reddington. I’m sure you and I were on that hit list as well but we’ve been out of reach.”

Lizzy’s blood went cold when she heard that Meera had been killed. She shook her head and removed the oxygen mask as tears began sliding down her face. “Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if we were there doing our jobs. We shouldn’t have been out here hiding like cowards. Maybe we could have done something. She has two daughters, Donald. There are two little girls out there that are orphans now.”

Donald scooted up the bed and took Lizzy into his arms and let her cry. He was feeling guilty as well but he knew that it wouldn’t change anything. He stroked her hair and said, “They were attacked randomly. This was obviously in the works for weeks, Liz. Our being there would have only meant more bloodshed. Berlin had a very particular plan in mind and he made it happen. We were protecting Reddington and he wanted us out of the way.”

She took a steadying breath because she knew that Donald was right. However, she still felt responsible. Reddington was in all of their lives because of her. She asked, “How is Assistant Director Cooper doing?”

“Cooper lost a lot of blood but he’s in surgery now. Aram will make contact once he has an update on his condition.”

“Finding Berlin and appeasing him isn’t going to be enough. Someone set him onto Reddington’s path. We need to figure out who that is because they are just as responsible as he is,” Lizzy declared. She covered her mouth as she began coughing violently again.

Ressler rubbed her back and grabbed a spare pillow. He said, “Here use this pillow to brace against your chest. It’ll help reduce some of the pain when you cough.”

Elizabeth accepted the pillow and did as instructed. She was surprised that it actually worked. 

He reached over to the nightstand and poured her another glass of water. Then he waited for the coughing fit to pass before handing her the glass.

She took a few sips of the water and then put her oxygen mask on again. Lizzy decided that it might be a good idea to leave it on for awhile. 

“Reddington is going to figure out who set him up. Trust me. It’s very high on his to do list. In the meantime, he’s going to get Berlin to calm down so that we can go home and get you into a hospital. The doctors did their best for you but they were uncomfortable leaving you here. You need chest X-rays and continuous medical care. We’re doing our best but it isn’t nearly enough.”

Elizabeth nodded. She knew that Donald was right. The person that put all of this in motion didn’t have any interest in going after Reddington personally. It wasn’t likely that he or she would be able to deploy a secondary strategy so quickly. 

Naomi knocked on the door and walked into the room. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt. I have some ginger ale, a cup of chocolate pudding, and some trail mix for you. I didn’t know what you might like the most out of the options of things that don’t need to be refrigerated.”

Donald looked at her. “Thank you for looking after Lizzy. I won’t be able to stay up here for much longer.”

“I’ll give the two of you some privacy. I’ll be just down the hall. Just give me a yell when you head back out,” she replied. Naomi slipped out of the room and pulled the door closed behind her. 

Donald saw Lizzy’s questioning look. “Baz is protecting the front of the house. I’m posted at the back and Anton is riding around the perimeter in a golf cart on a continuous loop. It’s a necessary precaution for now. I have Mr. Vargas covering for me now.”

Elizabeth hated that she wasn’t any help to them right now. She could hardly drag the oxygen tank around with her. Elizabeth squeezed his hand and nodded toward the door. She really couldn’t keep him with her any longer. Besides, she was exhausted and would only end up sleeping again anyway.

“Kicking me out already?” he joked. 

She smiled and nodded at him.

“Fair enough,” he replied and kissed her cheek. “I’ll come back up here to check on you in a couple of hours. If you need me before then, just have Naomi come get me. She and Jennifer are going to take turns sitting with you tonight.”

Donald kissed her cheek one more time and then left the bedroom. He stopped down the hall at Naomi and Frank’s bedroom. The door was standing open. “I’m heading back downstairs.”

Naomi stood and said, “Okay. I’m going to head back into the room to sit with Lizzy.”

Frank grumbled. “We’re not done talking.”

She sighed. “Actually, I believe that we are for now, Frank.”

“Excuse me for wondering why we’re trapped here while your ex-husband has swanned off to God knows where,” he yelled and marched out of the room. 

Naomi’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “I’m sorry about that. He’s just getting a little stir crazy and he’s worried about his daughters.”

Ressler’s expression said that he didn’t believe her but he was too respectful to say it aloud. He nodded and said, “Thank you for sitting with Elizabeth.”

“My pleasure. She’s Jennifer’s sister. How could I not help?” Naomi picked up a few magazines to keep her entertained and then left the bedroom. 


	26. Berlin: Part 1

Most people on the outside thought of Raymond Reddington as a ruthless businessman. And to a certain degree, they were certainly right. He protected his business interests viciously and without mercy. However, he was also a man that lived by a personal code. It was something that Raymond developed when he first embarked on this odyssey nearly three decades ago. He knew the atrocities that greedy men were willing to commit in the name of money and power. Raymond had seen living nightmares that he would never be able to forget. He looked at those responsible and knew they probably never thought themselves capable of such cruelty in the beginning. Raymond’s rules prevented him from ever crossing that line. 

Unfortunately, he was toeing his line this morning. Zoe was an innocent in all of this. She wasn’t responsible for Berlin’s actions. She certainly wasn’t responsible for making him believe that Reddington had a hand in her death. Yet, he had kidnapped Zoe from her bed in the middle of the night and dosed her with a sedative to keep her unconscious until now. Raymond would ensure that no harm came to the young woman. He certainly wouldn’t hand her over to Berlin. However, proving that Zoe was alive and well was the only way to protect his own family. All of his machinations went out the window the moment that Lizzy fell ill. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to save the lives of his daughters. Lizzy needed to be in a hospital. The threadbare care provided by the small town doctors wasn’t enough. They had warned that she could take a sharp turn for the worst and then she would have to be admitted to the hospital. 

Raymond sat in the living room of his hotel suite as he waited for Zoe to finish getting ready. Room service had already delivered their breakfast but he was waiting for the young woman to join him. He glanced at his watch and then picked up his cup of coffee. They would be meeting with Berlin at the Boston Public Garden in less than an hour. He was hopeful that this would bring an end to Berlin’s rampage. Reddington had spent the better part of the morning reading news articles about the plane crash in New York. It was a daring escape to be sure. Reddington might even have admired the man’s determination if it weren’t aimed at him. 

Zoe walked into the room with a stiffened posture. She didn’t know what to expect from the man sitting on the couch. She had awakened in a strange place with a parcel of new clothes sitting at the foot of the bed and a note instructing her to get dressed. Zoe had examined every inch of the room for a means of escaping but there were none. Honestly, she hadn’t really expected a way to escape. She hadn’t stirred even once while being abducted from her bed in the middle of the night. Her captor was obviously well prepared for this...whatever this was. She rounded the couch and then froze when she spotted Raymond. “I know you!”

Raymond smiled kindly and motioned for her to have a seat in a chair across from the couch. He assumed the young woman wouldn’t want to be close to him and he couldn’t blame her. She felt betrayed. He sipped from his cup of coffee and said, “Please, sit down and enjoy a meal with me, Zoe. I do not mean you any harm. I’m sure that is difficult to believe under the circumstances but it is true. However, if I wanted you dead...you would already be in the ground. I brought you here because I am in need of your help. Unfortunately, I believed it is help you wouldn’t have readily agreed to give me.”

She slowly sat down in the wingback chair and removed the metal cloche from her breakfast. Zoe eyed the contents wearily as she realized that it was her favorite meal. She remembered mentioning it to this man in front of her at some point during one of their chats. She was confused by the contrasting nature of the situation. She was his hostage but she was hardly being treated poorly. She took a tentative bite from her breakfast and smiled minutely at the taste. It was perfect. She said, “When you kept coming back to visit, I wondered if perhaps you were stalking me. But you seemed so nice and you talked about your own daughters so lovingly that...I should have listened to the little voice in the back of my head that told me to run. What do you want from me?”

Raymond placed his cup of coffee onto the table and sat forward on the couch. He admired Zoe’s confidence. Even in the face of uncertainty, she was strong. He said, “I do love my daughters very much. They mean everything in the world to me. There is nothing that I wouldn't give or wouldn't do to keep them safe. However, one of my daughters is very sick. She nearly drowned when her car was forced off a bridge. She recovered only to suffer a severe setback yesterday morning. She has pneumonia but I am unable to take her to the hospital because she is in danger. There is a man that wants to hurt me by torturing and then killing my daughter. You are here because that man is your father.”

Zoe nearly dropped her fork as she stared at Reddington in disbelief. Gulags were known for notoriously harsh conditions and her father had many enemies. She had hoped that he had perished ages ago from rough treatment or someone’s shiv. However, luck had never really been on her side. She tried to control her breathing as her eyes darted around the room as if the man might pop out of some hiding place. She said, “I’m sorry that you daughter is sick. I don’t know why my father would want to hurt her. If you are going to kill me in retribution, I only ask that you make it swift.”

Raymond clutched her trembling hand. He said, “I have no intention of killing you, Zoe. I meant what I said about not harming you. You’ve done nothing wrong here. Your father has been targeting my business interests and my daughters because he believes that I had you killed. I located you because I assumed that one day I might need to prove to him that you are alive and well. However, it was never supposed to be this way. I never intended to have you in his presence but the choice has been taken out of my hands. I need to get my daughter to as hospital and in order to do that I need your father to call off his hounds.”

She swallowed thickly and placed the fork unto the plate. She took a calming deep breath and removed her other hand from Reddington’s grasp. Zoe said, “I would rather slit my own throat than to be given over to that man. You don’t understand who he is and what he’s done to me. Handing me over to him will be as good as signing my death warrant. His love has bounds even where his own daughter is concerned. He might feel joy when he learns that I am alive but he will turn vicious when he realizes that I hate him. I will never love him and I won’t pretend.”

Reddington gave her an appraising look. He smiled and replied, “Well, my dear, then I suppose it is good that I never intended to give you to Berlin. There’s no need to be quite so maudlin. I only need to prove to your father that you are alive. You will go with me to meet him at  very public location. You’ll only need to prove your identity by providing information that only his daughter would have. Once we convince him of your identity you will leave with me. I’ll arrange for your travel to any destination of your choosing.”

She relaxed a little as she studied Reddington’s face. She hoped that he was being honest. However, he had effortlessly fooled her for weeks now. She could only hope that he would keep his word. Zoe picked up the glass of juice and asked, “Berlin? Is that what he’s calling himself now?”

He said, “It’s what his business associates call him. I haven’t been able to find anyone that knows his real name. It wasn’t until yesterday that I  even learned what he looks like. He’s kept his identity well hidden for good reason I suppose.”

Zoe said, “His name is Milos--Milos Kirchoff. He was part of the old guard in the Soviet Union. I was young and I wanted progress. People were suffering. I wanted change. I fell love with someone that was a dissident. He started taking me to meetings and I found that there were others like me. As we grew in number, the old guard killed our ranks with impunity. I only escaped a bombing mostly unharmed out of sheer luck. At the time, I didn’t realize that my father was behind these attacks. I learned the truth when I was imprisoned for being a dissident. People that my father had put there...told me of his true nature. He had hidden it from me so well. He arranged for my escape and then he killed my boyfriend in front of me. I was terrified of him and so I hid. The government put my father in prison for his role in my escape. Then one day this man approached me. He offered me a way out and a new life here in the United States. I needed to get away so I accepted his help. He sent me to someone called the Decemberist. I don’t know how my father came to believe that you killed me. It was not my doing.”

Raymond listened to her story intently. His mind began to sort through the types of people that had the connections to fake Zoe’s death, smuggle her out of the country, and transport her to the United States with a new identity. If he then considered the people capable of that sort of feat that were also his enemies...the list became very short. There were perhaps five prime suspects and he would thoroughly investigate all of them. He glanced at his watch. “We will need to leave in about 15 minutes. You will not be in danger at anytime during this meeting, Zoe. I have made arrangements to assure your safety. You won’t have to get any closer to your father than you want to be.”

Zoe nodded. It wasn’t as if she had any choice in the matter. She just had to hope that he would keep his word. 


	27. Berlin: Part 2

Raymond looked at his phone with a frown as he waited for Dembe to return from his scouting mission. He was sitting in the back of a SUV with Zoe. They were parked a few yards away from the Boston Public Garden’s main entrance. Raymond had just finished a call with Katherine. She called to check on his progress but also to update him on Lizzy’s condition. The doctors had dropped by that morning to check on her. The good news was that Lizzy’s condition hadn’t worsened since yesterday morning. Unfortunately, the bad news was that her condition hadn’t improved either. She would have to be admitted a hospital soon. 

He handed Zoe a burner phone and said, “There is only one number programmed into that phone. Call that number and ask for Mr. Kaplan if we’re separated for any reason. My contact will get you out of the country with a new identity so that you can start over somewhere new. I know that it isn’t an ideal situation but it is the best that I can offer you, Zoe. I’m sorry for involving you in this...even if it is out of necessity.”

She nodded and tucked the phone into the pocket of her coat. Zoe couldn’t help but eavesdrop during Reddington’s conversation. He didn’t say very much so there wasn’t a lot of information to go on. However, his maudlin expression was answer enough. She wondered if her father ever loved her as fiercely as Raymond Reddington loved his daughters. Perhaps Milos had loved her that way but she had just been unable to see past his crimes. She asked, “How is your daughter doing?”

Raymond was surprised by the question. He wondered if the young woman truly cared or was she just making idle chit chat while they waited.“She’s stable. The doctors are doing everything that they can for her but it isn’t enough. Lizzy will need to be intubated. Her lungs are struggling even with the aid of continuous oxygen. We’re trying to quietly procure the proper equipment in hopes that we can delay a hospital stay for a little longer.”

Zoe shook her head. “I never could have imagined that my...supposed death would be the cause of all of this. I hope that your daughter gets well soon.”

“Thank you but this is not your fault. There are greater powers at work here. You are but a pawn in a larger chess game. If it was not you...it would have been someone else,” Reddington replied. He patted her hand in reassurance. 

Dembe walked up to the dark colored SUV’s back door. The exhausted expression on his face spoke to his lack of sleep the previous night. He wouldn't be able to rest easy until the threat from Berlin passed. Dembe was worried that his own family might become pawns in this. He opened the door and nodded at Raymond.  “I walked the entire length of the park and confirmed with Agent Moltijabi. He is monitoring the park’s surveillance cameras and the smaller cameras I planted in the area last night. It looks like Berlin brought along five armed men. They are stationed near all of the exits. It is as safe as we can hope for under these circumstances.”

Raymond nodded at Dembe. He hadn’t expected any less of Berlin. However, it seemed that the man was at least willing to talk before he attacked them. He removed a blade from his coat pocket and handed it to Zoe. He said, “Hide this beneath the bulletproof vest you are wearing. I trust that you will know what to do if things don't go as planned.  I want you to do everything that you can to get away from Berlin alive. If he doesn't believe what we tell him this morning, he will believe that you are my daughter. I assure you that you will not like what he has planned.”

Zoe accepted the knife with a confused expression on her face. At the hotel, part of her wanted to believe that Raymond was serious about not handing her over to her father. However, he had been lying to her for weeks now. She had no reason to believe a word he said. Zoe just had to hope that the man meant to keep his word. It wasn’t lost on her that her father was still ruining her life after all these years. She looked at the blade and rotated the cool metal between her hands. Zoe just wanted to plunge the double edged blade into her father’s heart to be done with him once and for all. She shook her head and said, “I am no coward, Mr. Redington. If it is a fight that my father wants then it is a fight that he will get. I’m not running from him again.”

Raymond smiled in clear admiration of the young woman’s strength. He climbed out of the SUV and offered Zoe his hand. “Well, the time is upon us, my dear. I don’t think that we should keep your father waiting.”

Zoe tucked the dagger under her shirt. The cold steel against her warm skin was a good anchor point. She slid across the seat and then took Reddington’s hand as she climbed out of the car.

Dembe closed the back door and then led the way into the park. He stayed alert for any sign of an ambush. They had people monitoring the situation but the sting of betrayal was too fresh in his mind. He intended to personally attend to every man that had betrayed Raymond. No matter their excuses, he would make sure they died at his hands. Their relationship was strange and most people would hardly understand it but Raymond was the closest thing he had to a father. To strike against Reddington was to strike at Dembe’s very heart. His daughter and granddaughter perhaps being the only two people on Earth that meant more to him.

He came to a stop near a bench that was situated in roughly the middle of the park. It was nearly equidistant from the park’s exits. However, it was also close to the bridge that stood over the lagoon. He looked at Zoe significantly and asked, “Can you swim?” 

Zoe looked at the lagoon grimly and nodded. “Understood.”

Raymond had a seat on the bench and patted the space next to him. “Perhaps it will not become necessarily.”

She sat beside Reddington and focused on the blade pressed against her skin. 

Dembe moved to stand behind the bench. As he said, “Berlin is on the move.”

Zoe sat up straighter and fought the urge to grasp the dagger Reddington had given her. 

Berlin smiled smugly at Reddington as he sat on the bench across from them. He had two men with him that were obviously armed. “I did not think that you would really come, Reddington. I heard that you had become fat and lazy because of your success. Too afraid to face your enemies.”

Reddington returned his smile. “You really shouldn’t listen to idle gossip. Believing the false tales of the faithless is what has landed us both in this predicament. You believe that I slaughtered your innocent child in cold blood and now you wish to return the favor to me. Blood for blood...life for life. I am innocent. Ask anyone that has done business with me...I have never taken a life that did not deserve it. If I wished for your suffering...I could have done it without involving and innocent.”

He laughed and shook his head. He leaned forward and eyed Zoe with a salacious glint in his eyes. “You use such a pretty words. Have you come here with your daughter in tow to beg for her life? If you have...I’d rather like to see you beg on your knees. I would like very much to see her on her knees as well.”

Zoe stiffened and ground her teeth in anger. 

Raymond rested a hand on Zoe’s knee to calm her. He said, “Perhaps if this young woman was my daughter...I would be inclined to bend a knee to you. However, she is not one of my girls. This is your daughter. This is my last offer of peace. Accept that I have not wronged you and leave my family alone.”

The man’s smile disappeared and he roared to his feet. “How dare you bring this imposter here!”

“She is no imposter,” Reddington replied cooly. He nodded at Zoe.

She stood with her fists balled at her side. She said, “You call yourself Berlin because you are the one that is a coward. Why not use your real name, Milos Kirchoff? Announce to the world that you are alive and free or do you fear that your government will return you to the Siberian hellhole where you belong?”

Whatever reply that Berlin had, died on his tongue when he heard his name uttered. It was a name that he hadn’t heard spoken in over a decade. It was the name of a dead man and yet this young woman spoke it with such anger and contempt--as if he had wronged her only yesterday. That sort of fury couldn’t be manufactured. However, knowing his name did not make this girl his daughter. 

Zoe stepped closer and whispered into his ear. She took a step back and grinned at her father’s pale face. “Do you still deny my identity? Do you still pretend to not know me, Milos?”

He took a step toward her. “Kotenok...please.”

Reddington stood up and shook his head. “No.”

Berlin raged. “You cannot keep her from me! You bring my daughter here as a hostage? You want to use her against me. Where is this honor you spoke of just minutes ago?”

“I don’t want anything to do with you! Why do you think that I faked my death? I would have done anything to get away from you. You are a monster...a demon from hell. I am only here because you have threatened Mr. Reddington’s daughters because of my actions. You know now that I am alive...leave them alone.”

“You cannot mean that, kotenok.”

She hissed. “Don’t call me that! You don’t have the right to call me that anymore.”

Reddington saw that Zoe was becoming agitated and that her hand had disappeared up the sleeve of her coat. He moved between father and daughter and then turned to face the young woman. “Dembe will take you back to the car now.”

Zoe blinked back tears. “Please….let me end him here. Then neither of us will need to worry about him ever again. Please…”

Berlin stared in shock. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t understand what he’d done so wrong. “I love you, kotenok. What have you done to my daughter? You have brainwashed her--turned her against me somehow!”

“No one brainwashed me! I hate you because of all the things that you have done. You took so many innocent lives...so many of those lives belonged to my friends. You killed my boyfriend in front of me. I see you slitting his throat every time I close my eyes. A man approached me and offered to get me to America. He would give me a new identity and help me settle here. I jumped at the chance. I didn’t ask any questions. I didn’t care about his motives or intentions because I knew that he could not harm me any more than you already had.”

Reddington cupped her cheek and said, “That is enough. You have done enough for me today, Zoe. I am sorry to have dragged you into this. Go to the car and wait for me there with Dembe.”

Dembe didn’t like the idea of leaving Reddington alone with Berlin but they had people in place just in case anything went wrong. He gently took Zoe’s arm. “Come with me.”

Zoe tried to calm her breathing so that she didn’t begin hyperventilating. She nodded and allowed Dembe to lead her away. 

Reddington sat down on the bench and crossed his legs. “I think there is a lot for us to talk about, Milos…”


	28. Waiting in the Wings

Donald sat beside Lizzy’s hospitable bed and watched the ventilator breathe for her. It was a hard thing to see her connected to so many wires and tubes. She looked so pale, gaunt, and fragile. Lizzy hardly looked like herself right now and it scared him to death. He missed her smile and her laughter. However, Ressler knew that she was getting better each day. Reddington had arranged for Lizzy to be admitted to the best hospital in the country under an assumed name. For the last two days, she had been receiving five-star medical treatment and it was beginning to show. 

When Lizzy was admitted to the hospital, the medical team decided to put her into a medically induced coma. It was a drastic measure but they wanted the ventilator doing all of the breathing for her. Lizzy’s lungs were in poor shape and they needed time to heal. This would also give her the opportunity to regain some strength. The doctor assigned to Lizzy’s case was optimistic about  her prognosis. Dr. Cohen hoped that they would be able to bring her out of the medically induced coma by tomorrow evening. However, he warned Ressler that it would be at least another few days before they would be able to take Lizzy off the ventilator. 

The private hospital suite Reddington arranged for Lizzy was nicer than some hotels Donald had stayed in over the years. There was a pullout couch in the private sitting room just off of Lizzy’s room. He had managed to get a few hours of sleep on the pull-out couch when Mr. Kaplan visited last night. He wouldn’t have been able to truly rest unless someone was there to watch over Lizzy. Reddington assured him that the threat from Berlin was largely over. However, there were was still danger. Reddington was investigating the person or persons who framed him for the murder of Kirchoff’s daughter. 

Mr. Kaplan knocked on the door and then stepped into the room slowly. She was using a cane for support. “It’s only me. Good morning, dear. I brought you breakfast and some coffee. I figured that you could use both this morning.”

Donald stood up when she saw that Mr. Kaplan was carrying a large paper take-out bag. She was supposed to be taking it easy but apparently those words meant nothing to her. Donald wasn’t a big enough hypocrite to try and convince her otherwise. He wasn’t exactly in the habit of following doctor’s orders. He took the bag from her. “Thank you. I wasn’t looking forward to bland hospital food no matter how high quality it is. Here you should sit down.”

Mr. Kaplan nodded and had a seat beside Elizabeth’s bed. She rested her cane against the bed and then rubbed her sore knee. She asked, “How is Elizabeth doing this morning?”

Donald returned to his chair and opened the bag.  He removed a thermos of coffee and poured a cup. “She is doing better. Hopefully, the doctors will be able to idle down the sedation tomorrow. It will be nice to see her alert even if she still won't be able to talk.”

She said, “That’s good news. I'll be sure to tell Raymond when we speak later. He wishes that he could be here with her. He’s worried sick about Elizabeth. We all are.”

“I know that he would be here if he could be. I might have my issues with Reddington’s criminal activities but he loves Liz,” he replied. 

“That he does.”

Donald sipped from his cup of coffee. He motioned to the thermos and asked, “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“No thank you. I had a proper cup of tea before coming to the hospital. Mr. Vargas always puts too much milk in it for my liking. But he’s gone home now so I don’t have to put up with his hovering.”

He chuckled. “I am sure that he was just following Reddington’s orders.”

She hummed in agreement. “Likely. It doesn’t make it any less annoying. I am not a fragile woman.”

“I don’t think that anyone would accuse you of that,” Ressler said with a smirk.

Mr. Kaplan returned his smile. “Not if they wanted to keep all of their teeth in their head.”

He barked out a genuine laugh. He said, “Remind me never to get on your bad side. Are there any updates from Reddington?”

“There’s nothing worth sharing just yet. He’s running down a lead in Russia. He’s actually working with Berlin. It looks promising.”

Ressler shook his head. “I can’t believe hasn’t snapped and killed the bastard.”

“Raymond has more control than that. Berlin is too important a piece to remove from the board so early. However, there will come a time when the man will outlive his usefulness...then it’s anyone’s guess what Raymond decides to do with him. My hope is that he finds a very dark hole to stick the man in for the rest of his days. A quick death would be too merciful. There are a number of authorities that would salivate at the opportunity to apprehend Milos Kirchoff.”

“I’m sure the FBI, CIA, and Interpol will be at the top of that list. That stunt Berlin pulled in New York with the plane is enough to ship him off to a blacksite for the rest of his life. But he’s valuable because of the things that he knows about other criminal syndicates. He’s a very good bargaining chip for Reddington.”

She nodded in agreement. “Do you need anything? I was planning to stop by around dinner time this evening.”

Donald did need a few things. However, he knew that Mr. Kaplan wasn’t capable of carrying very much. The doctors thought that she should really be on crutches. However, the woman was apparently a glutton for punishment. She was walking around using a cane and popping over the counter pain relievers twice a day. “No. I have everything I need here. I can pop down to the gift shop if that changes.”

Katherine studied him with a speculative eye. “Jennifer will be coming with me this evening. She can carry any bags if that is your concern.”

When Lizzy was flown out to California for treatment, Jennifer decided to go with them. She wanted to spend more time with her sister. Moreover, she wasn’t interested in being sequestered with her mother and her disagreeable step-father. Jennifer had visited Lizzy both days she had been in the hospital. It wasn’t as if Lizzy could enjoy the company because of the sedation. However, Jennifer talked to her anyway.

He smiled wryly. “Was I really that transparent?”

She quirked an eyebrow at him instead of saying anything. 

“I’ll make a list. I didn’t bring much when I decided to go on the lam with Lizzy.”

“Why did you decide to go on the  **_lam_ ** with Elizabeth? That’s a very big risk to take for something...so new.”

He looked genuinely shocked for a moment. “Did you just ask me what my intentions were for Liz?”

Katherine chuckled. “No. It’s nothing as archaic as that. Elizabeth is well past the age of needing anyone to defend her honor or vet her lovers. And if she wasn’t...I surely wouldn’t have the right to do that. I asked merely out of curiosity and concern. I think we can both agree that her last relationship was an unmitigated disaster.”

Donald tensed. They had been busy worrying about Berlin and then about Elizabeth’s health. Somehow the threat that Tom Keen posed had slipped through the cracks. He scrubbed a hand over his stubble covered face. “Any news on the Tom Keen front?”

“Our people are always looking for him and he knows that. He keeps a very low profile for that reason. But he won’t be able to hide forever. His savings will run out and he’ll need to find a way to make quick cash. When you’ve lived a life like Tom Keen has...you’re not going to go flip burgers at a McDonald’s to make minimum wage. You’re going to fall into old habits. Perhaps even reach to old contacts. When he makes that mistake we’ll be there. We won’t let him hurt Elizabeth again.”

He hoped that Mr. Kaplan was right. Tom Keen had a way of defying the odds. The man was willing to go to great lengths to feed his obsession and he had his ex-wife firmly in his sights. Donald would never forget the bruises that covered Lizzy after her fight with Tom. His blood still boiled whenever he thought about it. She had come to his hospital room and just sat there for hours. He watched her try so hard not to cry in front of him. Eventually, Elizabeth broke down and told him the whole sordid tale. That maniac could have killed Lizzy but still he professed to love her. 

Donald wouldn’t be satisfied until Tom Keen was behind bars for the rest of his life. As he sipped from his cup of coffee he decided that finding Tom would be his number one priority as soon as Lizzy was out of the hospital. Reddington might not have any faith in the skills of FBI agents, but Ressler was damn good at his job. He was so good that years ago, he nearly caught Reddington. Tom wasn’t as good was Reddington was and didn’t have nearly as many resources. Finding him would be a challenge but Lizzy was worth it.


	29. Sleeping Beauty

Dr. Cohen made good on his word and brought Elizabeth out of the medically induced coma the following evening. However, she remained intubated for two more days as the doctors slowly reduced ventilator support. Lizzy slept a great deal during that time despite the lack of sedation. Dr. Cohen explained that her body was still expending a lot energy to heal itself and to fight off the pneumonia. Moreover, Dr. Cohen informed them that her general feeling of fatigue could last several weeks as her health gradually improved. Therefore, Donald still had a lot of downtime on his hands. Fortunately, Mr. Kaplan always thought of everything. 

Reddington’s right-hand woman, purchased a burner phone and a laptop for Agent Ressler. She knew that the younger man was itching to learn Tom Keen’s whereabouts. She couldn’t blame him because Tom’s inactivity was disconcerting. She wasn’t optimistic about Donald’s chances of locating the scoundrel considering the myriad of resources Raymond had already dedicated to that task. However, it never hurt to have another skilled investigator on the case. His feelings for Elizabeth gave him a personal stake in the matter. More significantly, the phone and laptop would give Ressler something to do while Lizzy slept. He still refused to leave her bedside unless Mr. Kaplan was there to protect her. 

Katherine wasn’t surprised to find Donald working feverishly on the laptop when she arrived with dinner. He had been working diligently since she brought the electronics to him three days ago. “How goes the search?”

Ressler closed the laptop and smiled tiredly at the older woman. He placed the computer on the nightstand and walked over to Katherine. He said, “I have made some progress. I’ve been looking into Keen’s former partners in crime. There have been some promising leads. One of my old informants is hearing rumors of an armored truck job that might be going down in the next week. Several of the players are part of the same syndicate he used to work for.”

Katherine handed Ressler the take out bag and then walked over to have a seat beside Lizzy’s bed. “That’s good news. Forward the information to me and I’ll pass it along to our people.”

He nodded as he sat down and started unloading the takeout containers. “Thank you for dinner. It smells delicious.” 

“You’re welcome.” Mr. Kaplan pulled a book out of her bag and settled down in the chair. She would be here for several hours at least. Katherine hoped to convince Donald to take a nap before she left for the night. He was burning the candle at both ends.

“Is this El Salvadoran?” he asked. Surprise shone clearly on his face. Instantly, he was reminded of his times with Elizabeth. They both loved the El Salvadoran restaurant near his place. Donald and Elizabeth ate at the restaurant so often that the owners knew them by name.

Katherine smiled. “I know that you and Lizzy are fond of El Salvadoran cuisine. I noticed that there was a restaurant not far from the hotel. I can’t attest to the quality personally but Jennifer assured me that the Yelp reviews were all positive.”

Katherine decided it was best not to tell the agent how she knew about their preferences. It was one matter to think that Reddington was having them watched...it was another matter entirely to have it confirmed. Raymond had assigned a security detail to Elizabeth months ago. 

Donald started eating dinner. He was hungrier than he anticipated. He had been distracted by his investigation for most of the day. Ressler had barely touched his lunch that afternoon. He was grateful for Mr. Kaplan looking after him. She could have left him to fend for himself at the hospital’s cafeteria. “This is great, Mr. Kaplan. Thank you. You’re here early this evening.”

“Well, I wanted to be here when Dr. Cohen takes Elizabeth off the ventilator. It will be nice to have something positive to tell Raymond tonight. He’s beside himself. He thought he would be back by now. Unfortunately, he’s hit something of a roadblock in his search. He’ll be away for at least another week.”

He stopped eating and looked at her with concern. He asked, “Did the trail take him somewhere unexpected or just complicated?”

“Both,” she replied. “However, it isn’t something that Raymond can’t handle. He will just have to maneuver around this situation more carefully than he initially thought.”

Ressler nodded slowly. Something about the wording of that statement made him uncomfortable. Unfortunately, there was a lot about Raymond Reddington that made him uncomfortable. The man continually flouted all rules and regulations as if they somehow didn’t apply to him. It was a double edged sword. Reddington’s dismissive attitude toward rules was keeping Lizzy safe. However, it also went against everything that Ressler believed. He believed in following the rules and doing the right thing. Donald would go back to objecting to Reddington’s tactics once Lizzy was well again.

Mr. Kaplan smiled. “I can practically hear you grinding your teeth from over here, Donald.”

“Am I that obvious?”

She shook her head. “No, but I am good at reading people. You’re an honest man--a man of principle. Being in Raymond’s orbit can’t be easy for you.”

“That’s a understatement,” he replied with a snort.

“But you’re with Elizabeth anyway,” she said. Her voice was thoughtful even if her smile was a bit more mischievous.

Donald shook his head and smiled wryly. “I knew that they were a packaged deal when Lizzy and I started dating. I’m the one that helped her prove that Reddington was her father. I know what he means to her...what he meant to her even before she knew the truth about their connection. I’ll tolerate him for her.”

Katherine laughed heartily. “Raymond feels the very same about you.”

He smirked. “I’m not surprised. Where is Jennifer?”

“She is with Baz. Jennifer wanted to go to a salon to change her appearance. I didn’t think it was such a bad idea considering our circumstances.”

Ressler nodded in agreement as he looked over at Lizzy’s shorn hair. The pixie cut she gave herself in the bus station’s bathroom was already beginning the grow out. 

“I’ve made arrangements to have Elizabeth released in the next couple of days. We’re going to move her to a another hospital to finish recuperating. It’s just a precaution but it’s better that we don’t remain in one place for too long.”

Donald finished eating and returned the empty containers to the takeout bag. “Where will we be headed this time?”

Katherine replied. “Seattle. It’s a top rated hospital, in patient care as well as privacy. Hopefully, in another week Elizabeth will be in better health and Raymond’s business overseas will have concluded.”

“Here’s hoping…” Ressler had a lot that he needed to sort out in his professional life. He was fortunate that Assistant Director Cooper had officially designated him as being on leave. He still had a job to go back to when this was all over but explanations would be required. He hadn’t yet come up with those explanations just yet. Cooper knew the truth but there would have be a story for the bureau. Moreover, there was an interim assistant director sitting in Cooper's chair until he recovered from Berlin’s attack.

Mr. Kaplan looked down at her phone and frowned. ‘I need to take this call. I will back soon. Text me if Dr. Cohen arrives before I return.”

Ressler nodded. “I will.”

Dr. Cohen arrived 15 minutes later with two nurses. He smiled. “Good evening.”

Donald stood up nervously. “Are you going to take the tube out tonight?”

He nodded with a smile. “Yes, all of the tests show that her recovery is progressing better than we had hoped. She is ready to come off the ventilator. Your wife is a very strong woman.”

The agent released a breath that he hadn’t realized that he was holding. It was still strange to hear the hospital’s staff refer to Elizabeth as his wife. It was all part of the fake identities that Mr. Kaplan crafted for them. “That’s great news.”

“Normally, we ask that family members wait outside of the room while we extubate a patient. It can be an incredibly stressful situation for everyone involved.”

Ressler shook his head. “I’d prefer not to leave her alone during this. I’m not squeamish. And I’m not easily unnerved. You won’t need to worry about me getting in your way during the procedure.”

Dr. Cohen nodded as if he hadn’t expected any other answer. He knew that the man hadn’t left the hospital once since his wife was admitted. He said, “Well, please give us some room to work. The extubation won't take very long. ”

The nurses set about waking up Elizabeth so that they could get started. They elevated her bed so that it would be easier to work with her.

Elizabeth’s eyes met with Donald and she tried to smile despite her apprehension. It was comforting to know that he was there. 

Ressler moved to the other side of the room and sent Mr. Kaplan a text message. He wondered if the urgent call had been from Reddington or was there something else that was happening. Jennifer being out and about in the city, even with Baz as protection, made her a target. 

Dr. Cohen and the nurses chatted quietly as they prepared Elizabeth for the procedure. The doctor explained the process to her as well so that she would know what to expect.

Elizabeth nodded occasionally to indicate that she understood everything that they were explaining to her.

Ressler locked eyes with Lizzy and smiled in support. Silently, he mouthed, “You've got this.”

All in all it took about ten minutes to get everything set up and to remove the tube from Lizzy’s throat. 

Ressler stood with clenched fists throughout the procedure. He couldn’t tell if it was painful or merely uncomfortable for Lizzy. In anycase, she had shed a few tears as Dr. Cohen removed the tube. He was relieved when it was finally over.

Dr. Cohen placed a nasal cannula on Elizabeth. “We are going to slowly wean you off of oxygen as your breathing improves. However, for now you still need to wear this. If you feel short of breath at all call the nurses.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Thank you, doctor.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be back to check on you in a couple of hours. Try to take it easy for now. Page me if you have any questions.”

Ressler said, “We will.”

Dr. Cohen and the nurses left the room and closed the door behind them.

Donald walked over to the bed and took Lizzy’s hand. “Hey…”

She smiled tiredly and squeezed his hand. “Hi.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like someone just pulled a tube out of my throat,” she deadpanned.

He chuckled and brushed his lips over her temple. “Well, I am glad to see that you haven’t lost your sparkling personality.”

She smirked. “Not a chance.” Lizzy took a deep breath and said, “Thank you for sticking with me.”

“Where would I go?” he asked. 


	30. Predator or Prey?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to take a moment to apologize to everyone for my prolonged absence. I fell ill for awhile and just didn't have the energy to even think about writing. I am finally feeling better and I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I hope that you will all stick around for the rest of the story.

Elizabeth had been off the ventilator for 48 hours and she was ready to check herself out of the hospital. However, the stern looks from Ressler and Mr. Kaplan promised extreme measures if she even tried getting out of the bed. Normally, she wouldn’t mind convalescing in a cushy hospital suite for a few days. However, her father was running around Europe facing down enemies that were powerful enough to have set Berlin on his trail all those years ago. Dembe was there to watch Reddington’s back and she trusted him. However, he was only one man and all of the training in the world couldn’t make up for that.

Her relationship with Reddington was complicated. However, he was her father and Lizzy wasn’t interested in losing him again. There were so many things that she wanted to know about him and his background. For over two decades her life had been one big jigsaw puzzle but Red possessed some of the missing pieces. However, her desire to see him safe was about more than just learning about her past. Lizzy loved her father. She loved Reddington before she ever received confirmation of their biological bond. She believed in actions and his actions always spoke to his devotion to her protection...if not always her happiness.

Today, was the first time that Ressler had left the hospital since Lizzy was admitted last week. He was vague about his plans aside from mentioning that he would be with Mr. Kaplan if Elizabeth needed him for anything. Donald tended to be a plain spoken man so his actions were suspicious. Elizabeth trusted that he would fill her in on everything later. She believed that his errands were related to whatever he had been working on the last couple of days. Elizabeth had noticed him using a laptop whenever he thought she was resting. Donald always gave Lizzy his full attention when she was awake. 

While Lizzy didn’t enjoy being stuck in a hospital bed, there was one highlight in the whole situation. Jennifer had been there for at least four hours both days. The sisters swapped stories about their childhoods and anecdotes about Reddington. Jennifer knew the man their father was before he went on the run. While Elizabeth knew the man he had become after years of a self-imposed exile from their lives. However, both women realized that they didn’t really know the man at all. They only had vague sketches composed of the details Raymond had let them see and the pieces that he revealed accidentally--either by chance or circumstance.  

Jennifer sat crossed legged at the bottom of Lizzy’s hospital bed. She shook up a bottle of nail polish and said, “It’s called peach sunrise. I just had to buy it at the store. I reminds me of summertime at the beach. What do you think of it?”

Lizzy didn’t know why her sister had insisted on giving her a pedicure and manicure. However, she was enjoying her time with Jennifer. It might have also been a little about Ressler. He’d been at her side for days and she looked like death warmed over. It would be a nice surprise when he returned from whatever errand he was running. She wrinkled her nose. “It looks too girly for me. Do you have anything little sexier?”

Jennifer smirked and searched her bag for another color. She asked, “What about this one? It’s called starlight.”

She examined the glittery color and shook her head. “It’s a little too stripper-y for me.”

“I’ll try not to take that personally since my toes are that color right now,” Jennifer teased. She picked through the bag and pulled out another color. “We could always go with a classic. I have a cherry red lacquer that would look great on you.”

Lizzy took the bottle and tested it out on one of her fingers. She blew on the polish to dry it faster and then held it up under the fluorescent lights. She smiled at the color. “I think we have a winner.”

“Finally! Who knew a FBI agent would be so picky about her beauty regimen?” Jennifer teased. 

“Being a FBI agent doesn’t mean I’m not concerned with fashion. I just haven't had a lot of time lately what with being on the run and then in a medically induced coma,” replied with a laugh.

Jennifer nodded and threw a knowing look to Elizabeth’s blonde pixie cut. She started painting Lizzy’s toes and said, “Baz took me to the salon a couple of days ago to get my hair colored. I would have preferred to do it myself but I didn’t want to risk staining anything in the hotel room.”

She smiled. “It’s a great look on you.” Elizabeth watched Jennifer paint her nails. “Have you given any thoughts about what you’re going to do when all of this is over?”

“Not really. Part of me just wants to go back to my old life. I mean I’ll have to find a new job because my boss probably fired me on the second day that I was a no-call/no-show. But there is another part of me that wants to stick around to get to know you and our dad.”

“Oh…”

Jennifer shook her head upon seeing the pained expression on Lizzy’s face. “I said that wrong. I’m not conflicted about getting to know you, Elizabeth. I can honestly say that I have always wanted a sister. I’ve been estranged from my mother for a long time. It would be nice to have family again. But…”

Elizabeth nodded. “I understand. You have to weigh the consequences of allowing Red back into your life. He’s dangerous and he has more enemies than I think even he really knows. You’ll never really be safe if you stick close to him. He’ll do his damndest to protect you but there are no guarantees. I’m in the hospital because of complications from the injuries I suffered when his enemies forced my car off a bridge. I nearly drowned. I would be dead if Donald hadn’t pulled me from the water.”

“Are you trying to convince me to stay or to run for the hills?” she asked with an amused huff. 

Lizzy flashed a mirthful smile. “Neither. This is a decision you’ll have to make on your own, Jenni. But I think it should be an educated decision. You should know the risks that you’re taking on by staying close to him. I also think that you should consider the benefits of getting to know him, too.”

“How did you make that decision?”

“I didn’t really get a choice. Red dropped into my life unexpectedly. I didn’t know that he was my father at the time. He just knew all of these things about me. He knew things about me that I didn’t even know about myself. I asked him directly at one point if he was my father but he denied it. That’s another thing that you will learn about him...he’s a liar. And a convincing one at that.”

Jennifer shook her head. She shifted so that she could reach Lizzy’s left foot. “I already know about the deceitful parts of his personality. My mother harped on those when I was a kid.”

“I can imagine. Reddington turned your lives upside down when he went on the lam. That isn’t an easy thing for someone to forgive,” she replied.

“Is he worth it?” Jennifer asked suddenly. 

Lizzy said, “He is to me. I know that he loves me. I know that he would give his life for mine. I know that he would commit unspeakable acts of violence to keep me safe. But it’s the little things that matter most to me. After the car accident, I was unconscious for a few days. When I woke up he was right there at my side. I was confused, in pain, and scared to death. I didn’t want to be alone so he sat beside me and hummed a song to comfort me. It wasn’t just any song. Somehow he knew the song that my foster father sang to me as a child whenever I was scared.”

Jennifer watched the range of emotions that played over her sister’s face. She let the emotionally charged silence in the room hang in the air as finished painting Lizzy’s toe nails. 

An hour later, the two sisters were sitting together in Lizzy’s bed while watching the movie  _ Overboard _ . The day before, they had learned of a mutual love for all things Goldie Hawn.

Elizabeth had a fresh coat of cherry red nail polish on her feet and hands. She had also allowed Jennifer make up her face. The finished product was impressive. Lizzy looked better than she had in awhile. The young woman was obviously great at her job. Jennifer promised to help Lizzy change her hair color as soon as she was out of the hospital.

The door slowly opened into the room and Raymond stood there in silence. Neither young woman had heard him enter the room. Part of him didn’t want to interrupt this moment between the sisters--his daughters. There was a time when he thought that they would never be in the same room together. Sometimes he wondered if he made the right decisions regarding their safety. However, seeing them both safe and alive was all the convincing that he needed. 

Raymond removed his fedora and allowed the door to close behind him. The quiet click was just  loud enough to draw Lizzy’s attention to the door. He saw the way her body tensed before she recognized him. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked. 

Jennifer’s head whipped around to see who Lizzy was talking about. 

“Well, I can turn around and leave again if that’s the way you feel about it, Lizzy,” he teased.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes in exasperation and paused the movie. “I only meant that I was surprised to see you. The last I heard, you were traipsing around eastern Europe.”

He sat down in a chair beside the bed and rested the fedora atop his knee. “Well, more important matters required my attention stateside. Besides, I had learned everything I really needed to know. I’ve reached something of a dead end with Berlin’s help. It’s time to explore other avenues.”

Truthfully, he already knew who was responsible for all of the chaos wrought by Berlin’s misplaced vendetta. He just didn’t know what to do with the information just yet. The cabal wasn’t an organization that he could take head on. However, they also couldn’t be allowed to remain intact. His children were adults now and it was harder to hide them in plain sight. They would both be easy targets.

“Do any of those matters requiring your attention have to do with Ressler’s suspicious absence this afternoon?” Lizzy asked. 

Reddington chuckled. “I told Donald he wouldn’t be able to pull one over on you.”

“It wasn’t as if it was very difficult to figure out that something was wrong. Ressler hasn’t left the hospital since I was admitted. Today he suddenly decides to accompany Mr. Kaplan on some errands while Baz stays here with me and Jenni? It didn’t track but I figured browbeating him about it wasn’t the best tactic. I would find out what was happening sooner or later.” 

Jennifer frowned. “What’s wrong? Are we in danger?”

“No. Neither of you are in any immediate danger. However, it appears that Lizzy’s ex-husband is in the area. It’s hardly a coincidence that he chose to pull a job in this city. He’s looking for you Elizabeth--Tom is looking for you.”

Elizabeth felt her blood run cold at the mention of Tom’s name. “But he doesn’t know where I am yet? Does he?”

Reddington shook his head. “Not yet. Ressler and Dembe are out kicking over rocks to find him. However, Mr. Kaplan has already made arrangements to get all of you out of the city tonight.”

Jennifer looked concerned in spite of herself. “What about you? Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Dembe and I will be staying until the Tom Keen problem is solved,” he replied mildly. 

“Red…” Elizabeth began. 

He waved her off and offered a benign smile “I am going to give him the option to walk away from this situation. I will let him live if he stops pursuing you. I can’t be held accountable for what happens if he decides to reject my generous offer.”

“Maybe if I just talked to him. I could get him to see reason,” Elizabeth tried. 

Raymond stiffened in his chair. His voice was quiet but there was a steel edge to it. “Do I need to remind you what he did the last time you thought talking to him would work?”

Elizabeth’s hand unconsciously went to her throat as she remembered his strong fingers cutting off her air supply. She had clawed at his hands as her vision began going dark. Elizabeth wasn’t sure why he stopped short of killing her but Raymond was right that she wasn’t looking forward to a repeat performance. 

He continued, “I’m also certain that your young man would have something to say about that.”

Elizabeth scowled at him. “Ressler would understand.”

Raymond smirked because they both knew that was a lie. Donald would object perhaps even more vigorously than he would. 


	31. If A Tree Falls In The Woods

Society considered blackmail to be such an ugly word but it definitely had proven useful today. For years, Reddington had his people watching Tom and Elizabeth from afar. At the same time, Tom had been looking for weak points to exploit in Reddington’s operation. Betrayal was an inevitability in an organization of his size. Moreover, Reddington just had the ability to rub people the wrong way at times. In any case, Tom knew all along that one day he might be in need of information. Fortunately, his hard work paid dividends this morning by way of a location for the safe house where Red planned to stash Lizzy.

Tom knew that he only had one chance to get this right. If Reddington managed to get Lizzy out of the country there was a chance that he would never see her again. He was certain that Raymond was painting him as an unstable villain. Tom might even be willing to admit that his last encounter with his wife played right into the older man’s hands. However, his love for her was genuine. He had never felt this way about anyone else before. Tom was willing to do whatever was necessary to make Elizabeth see that. However, he couldn’t do that while she was under the overprotective thumb of Reddington and Agent Ressler.

His contact within Reddington’s organization had given him some unpleasant news. Ressler wasn’t along for the ride simply to protect Elizabeth as he had originally assumed. The two had begun dating recently. Tom couldn’t understand how his wife could have moved on so quickly. From the beginning, he believed that Reddington had spearheaded Lizzy’s insistence on a divorce. He knew that their expedited divorce proceedings had to be courtesy of the older man’s meddling. The courts in California normally took at least six months to finalize a divorce. He received the court’s decree less than a month after signing the paperwork. However, now he wondered if Lizzy had been eager to divorce him so that she could move on with Ressler. The very notion enraged him.

Tom’s plan was simple. He would hit the convoy during transport and kidnap Lizzy while everyone was scrambling to figure out what was happening. Hopefully, he would have the opportunity to kill Ressler, too. Tom could admit that it was a petty move. However, he wanted Lizzy to understand that he was her only option. He knew that it would take some time for her to forgive him. But they would have plenty of time to reconnect while on his boat. He planned to sail around the world with Lizzy. Being a constantly moving target would make them more difficult to find.

Reddington was moving Lizzy to a safe house in Birch Bay, Washington. He was certain that Raymond chose that location because of its proximity to the Canadian border. The house was just 35 miles south of Vancouver. They were due to arrive in about twenty minutes. The safe house was located on a secluded parcel of land in the unincorporated town. However, the most important asset of the property was the seaplane docked behind the house. Tom would bet his last dollar that Reddington planned to use the seaplane to get Lizzy across the border. The small aircraft could fly low enough to avoid radar detection.

Tom chose a secluded hiding spot with a great sight line of the road. There was only one way to reach the safe house. The setup made it very defensible once everyone was on the property. However, a well-laid trap on the road would result in a bottleneck with no viable exit.

He kept looking at his watch and then using his binoculars to check for headlights on the darkened road. He was starting to get anxious when two cars began speeding in his direction. Tom’s finger hovered over the detonator as he waited for the cars to get into position.

Tom triggered a dual set of explosions that knocked down several large trees. The trees acted as barriers that prevented the cars from backing up or going forward. Then he set off a smoke bomb that reduced visibility even more. He emerged from his hiding place with an automatic weapon hefted over his shoulder while wearing night vision goggles.

He rushed to the second car and pulled open the back door. Only to be greeted by a glock pointed directly at his face.

Reddington smiled. “Hello, Tom.”

Tom opened his mouth to reply but ultimately crumpled to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Baz had crept up behind Tom and whacked him over the head with the butt of his gun. He hefted the younger man over his shoulder and then tossed him into the back of the car.

Reddington looked over the seat. “Do you have the sedative?”

The gray-haired hitman nodded as he produced a syringe from his olive green tactical vest. He used his teeth to pull off the protective cap and then promptly plunged the syringe into Tom’s neck. “He should be out for at least an hour. But I have several doses on hand in case the sedative wears off too fast.”

Reddington gave a self-satisfied smile and then settled back in his seat. His men would work feverishly to clear the trees felled by Tom’s explosions.

The younger man’s monumental arrogance had been his undoing. Whereas, Berlin had been able to turn people in Red’s organization, Tom just didn’t have that sort of power. He had triggered a trap the moment that he tried to pressure Reddington’s bagman for information. The man had promptly contacted Dembe for instructions on how to handle Tom.

Reddington could have sent a hit squad after Tom to rid him of the troublesome operative. It would have been intensely satisfying to the aging crime boss. However, Reddington knew that he would risk losing Elizabeth for good if she ever learned the truth. Moreover, as he realized after the unauthorized DNA test, his daughter was relentless in pursuit of the truth. It was better to handle Tom in a slightly more law-abiding way.

Red had amassed an extensive catalogue of Tom’s crimes over the years. He had spent a great deal of money to learn about the crimes he committed before he married Lizzy. Reddington intended to turn Tom over to the FBI. The AUSA firmly in Red’s pocket would either bring Tom up on charges or allow his extradition to one of the dozen countries where he was wanted for a variety of serious crimes. The bottom line was that soon enough Tom would be little more than a footnote in the book of Lizzy’s life.

Mr. Kaplan shook her head and said, “Try not to look so smug, Raymond.”

He glanced at his partner in crime and asked, “Am I not allowed to enjoy his defeat even a little?”

“Tom won’t be defeated until he is behind bars. You of all people know how slippery he can be.”

Reddington stifled a sigh but recognized the wisdom of her words. It was best not to count his chickens before they hatched. Tom had slipped through his fingers in the past. He couldn’t allow it to happen again. The good news was that Lizzy was far out of Tom’s reach. Jennifer and Lizzy were staying at his home in St. Bart’s for now.

“Have you talked to Dembe?”

Mr. Kaplan bit back a smile. “Yes, I spoke to him before we left the hotel, Raymond. Jennifer and Elizabeth are quite safe. Their only complaint was the limited food selection. However, Dembe sent Benny out for more supplies. The girls were able to give him a list of their preferences.”

Raymond was looking forward to spending some time with his daughters. Jennifer had agreed to return to New York with them. It was a big step and Raymond was certain that Lizzy had a role in Jennifer’s decision. He knew that the road to better relationships with his daughters would be difficult. Frankly, he was elated that there was even a road. They both had sufficient reason never to speak to him again.

“How is our other little operation going?” he asked.

Kate studied her tablet. She had a list of fifteen names in front of her. Nine of the names were highlighted in red. “Nearly done now,” she replied.

While Red’s family was safe once again, other matters demanded their attention. Currently, they were excising all the assets that had betrayed Raymond when Berlin came calling. Mercy wasn’t a luxury that they could afford. If these people could be corrupted once, then it meant they could be corrupted again. Raymond now knew that Berlin had merely been a pawn in a much larger game. There would be hard days ahead of them. Raymond needed to be able to trust everyone in his employ.

However, he would be spending some much-needed time with his family first. A week in St. Bart’s would be a short reprieve before he went to war with the cabal.


End file.
